Name: John Frederick Peto (1854-1907)
Brand: Research
Price: 16000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

John Frederick Peto (1854-1907)
Research
bears apocryphal signature with initials in monogram 'W.M. Harnett' (lower right)
oil on board
9 x 11½ in. (22.9 x 29.2 cm.)

William Joseph Hughes, Washington, D.C.
The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1939.
The Edith Gregor Halpert Collection, New York.
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 20th Century American Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors and Sculpture: The Edith Gregor Halpert Collection (The Downtown Gallery), 14 March 1973, lot 15.
Acquired by the late owners from the above.

A. Frankenstein, "Harnett, True and False," The Art Bulletin, vol. XXXI, March 1949, pp. 44, 46-48, no. 15.
A. Frankenstein, After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, 1870-1900, Berkeley, California, 1953, p. 17, no. 15.
A. Frankenstein, After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, 1870-1900, Berkeley, California, 1969, pp. 17, 184, no. 19.
J. Barnitz, et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Art of the Western Hemisphere, vol. II, New York, 1988, pp. 45-47, no. 15, illustrated.

On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the sale of certain lots consigned for sale. This will usually be where it has guaranteed to the Seller that whatever the outcome of the auction, the Seller will receive a minimum sale price for the work. This is known as a minimum price guarantee. This is a lot where Christie’s holds a direct financial guarantee interest.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie's Inc

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

Although inspired by the famous trompe l'oeil artist William Michael Harnett, whom he knew quite well, John Frederick Peto created his own distinct style of realistic painting that established him as one of the greatest still life artists of the nineteenth century. With less defined contours, more prosaic objects, and a greater focus on the effects of light, Peto's compositions are not imitations of Harnett's works, but rather the creations of a talented artist in his own right.

Unfortunately, by the time trompe l'oeil art grew in popularity with a 1939 exhibition at The Downtown Gallery, New York, several paintings by Peto had been spuriously signed by an unknown hand with false Harnett signatures in an effort to make them more marketable. Peto himself was not responsible for these apocryphal signatures. In 1949, scholar Alfred Frankenstein realized that several paintings inconsistent with Harnett's style, including the present work, should more accurately be attributed to Peto.