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By 1828

Vegetable Still Life

James Peale

American, 1749 - 1831

The Peale family’s approach to still life refreshed European precedents. The subdued background and countertop setting seen here are adapted from Dutch, French, and Spanish examples. Yet this assemblage of colorful produce celebrates American agriculture’s success, with the impeccable forms showing none of the decay found in the popular European still-life tradition of vanitas (foreshadowing death even amid nature’s bounty).

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James Peale, Vegetable Still Life, By 1828 | Philadelphia Museum of Art