William Michael Harnett
Irish, 1848-1892 (active USA)
The Secretary's Table, 1870
oil on canvas
14 x 20 in.
SBMA, Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton for the Preston Morton Collection
1960.60
Undated photo of Harnett
Surrounded by the everyday objects that appear in their work, John F. Peto (violin at his chin) poses in his studio with friend and fellow artist William Harnett.
COMMENTS
The Secretary ’s Table is an oil on canvas painting focusing on Harnett’s fascination in painting objects which include letters, pens and writing equipment. This painting is an example of the tradition of Trompe l’Oeil. A further discussion of this tradition is found at the end of this research document. Prior to the painting entering the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 1960, Victor D. Spark, owner, had it wax-lined, which means that a light coat of varnish was applied. The background had an irregular and disfiguring appearance resulting from reglazing and a harsh resin coating. In 1978, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Conservation Center treated the painting with a recleaning using acetone. Some inpainting was done with acrylic Magna colors and natural resin varnish. Mr. Joseph Eatz of Baltimore sold the painting to Victor D. Spark who owned it twice in 1945/1946 and again in the early 1950’s. It purchased by Mrs. Sterling Morton, for the Preston Morton Collection in 1960.
Harnett (1848-1892) expanded the development of the American still-life tradition in the last quarter of the 19th century. His father was a shoemaker, his brother a saddler and he was a silver-engraver apprentice as a youth. Harnett studied art at night. The "Second School of Philadelphia" movement brought about a renaissance of illusionism in America in the 19th century at the hands of Harnett, Peto and Haberle. Trompe l’Oeil reached its zenith in Europe during the transition between the Renaissance and the Age of Reason in the 17th century. The American trio almost sunk into oblivion for nearly half a century, until they were rediscovered by Alfred Frankenstein in his book, After the Hunt (1953). Frankenstein brought Harnett and others back into the limelight. Harnett’s painting After the Hunt (1885) brought him recognition and fortune. There is also an 1883 version of the same painting and it is interesting to compare the two for the changes made in the depiction of the horn.
Trompe l’Oeil is not only a form of still life but indeed "still" life in the most literal meaning of the term. Any suggestion of movement destroys the illusion. This painting is one produced between 1874 and 1880 in Philadelphia. Throughout these years, Harnett painted many pictures of tabletops including letters, pens and other writing equipment. This painting was one of several: The Banker’s Table, 1877; Still Life Writing Table 1877; and, Still Life with Letter to Thomas B. Clarke, 1879. These center around the intellectual as well as the business side of life in the 1800’s. Letters, books and newspapers all communicated information and reflected the importance of letter writing during this period.
When painting Trompe l’Oeil, one must obey a few rules: 1. a still life must be life-size: 2. as the great Flemish masters did, relief and volume should be created by using an oil/varnish medium so color values blend well, brushstrokes are invisible and the finish has a great brilliance and luminosity; 3. the edge of the painting must not cut off any object represented; 4 the picture needs a shallow depth of perspective; 5. hard outlines, dark shadows and cut-away shapes should be used.
Harnett began to paint utilitarian objects such as the ink-stand, letter-box and candle found in this painting, which replaced the focus on food found in the earlier part of the 19th century. The note on the writing pad states: "June 28/See Mr. Clarke at St. George Hotel". This may refer to Thomas B. Clarke, a collector of American art for whom this painting may have been commissioned.
Harnett enriched the American still-life tradition by popularizing a number of novel still-life types, including the writing table. This painting shows a brilliant contrast of the red sealing wax and the green leather case containing fresh sheets of paper stamped with a circular Japanese fan adorned with a crane and sheets of bamboo. The candle, candlestick, the knife and quill pen are regular items in Harnett’s repertoire. There are subtle distinctions in texture from the muted sheen of the brass candlestick to the soft contours of the plume pen. Notice his realistic textures and the finish of his still life, which is reminiscent of the great Flemish, Dutch and German masters of the Renaissance.
The composition of the work contains many converging diagonals yet no one object appears to take precedence over any of the others. The objects are precisely detailed as if seen in a vacuum without any interference from the outside world. Trompe l’Oeil deals with subjects in the foreground, near the viewer’s plane of vision. Trompe l’Oeil must be shown in original coloring. Only oil colors make possible the subtle shading, gradation of tones and the effortless transition from light to dark that are essential for deception. Cool, even lighting is most favorable for Trompe l’Oeil. Harnett understood how to arrange planes, balance color masses and make his light circulate. His rendering of textures such as metal, wood, paper and fabric is often dazzling. His technical skill is exemplified by the crystalline clarity of the subjects, the meticulous detail and the deceptive roundness and depth.
Harnett is at the center of Trompe l’Oeil in America due to his precision and the delicacy of his style. His sensitive awareness of texture and of the fine points of good workmanship is reflected in his renderings of the objects. There is a passion in his portrayal of commonplace objects and he never gave up on trying to achieve certain perfection, not an imitation of life. Harnett felt that he did not imitate nature, as there were many points that he left out and many that he added. As stated by Frankenstein, "nothing was ever further removed from either realism or reality and nothing closer to high poetry than Trompe l’Oeil. They get so far behind the race that they complete a full circle and come back as the latest thing." When Edith Gregos Halpert opened her "Nature-Vivre" exhibit in 1939 at New York’s Downtown Gallery, suddenly almost forty-seven years after his death William Michael Harnett was exciting and new. In the 1969 revised edition of Alfred Frankenstein’s definitive book "After The Hunt" the catalog of Harnett’s work lists 153 paintings, 5 drawings, 1 sculpture, and 16 paintings known only through photographs. Frankenstein also stated that he felt no more than one fifth of Harnett’s work had been found.
Trompe l’Oeil:
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines Trompe l’Oeil "as visual deception especially in paintings in which objects are rendered in extremely fine detail emphasizing the illusion of tactile and spatial qualities." It is important to differentiate between illusionism that appeals to the imagination and is "in the eye of the beholder" and Trompe l’Oeil which in "deceiving the eye" strives to duplicate reality to the point of delusion. Illusionism is ancient and Trompe l’Oeil is a relative newcomer. Usually Trompe l'Oeil stands by itself as a self-contained rendering of objects in their entirety. Its purpose is to mirror those aspects of reality that cannot be expressed as well in words. As for artistic expression, it is one of the most scrupulous forms. Trompe l’Oeil is unrelated to any particular setting in that it can affect a visual illusion wherever it is displayed. The objects within the Trompe l’Oeil can overlap and mask each other in part but they cannot leave the edges of the canvas, board or the plane. And at a distance, Trompe l’Oeil gives the illusion of reality. The earliest recorded example of illusionism in America is found in the works of John Mare (1739-1768). His portrait of John Keteltas, wherein he depicts a fly illusionistically. The depiction of the fly or insect in European examples signified the greatness of life and the insignificance of man.
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
The incredible level of detail in this still life is typical of the talented Harnett, who chose the representation of everyday objects as his specialization. The steady demand among 19th-century American collectors for decorative pictures of this variety meant that he could afford to travel to Munich and Paris later in his career, where he further honed his sophistication as a still-life specialist. Harnett succeeded the Peale family as the dominant artist in this genre. In this meticulous work, Harnett includes clues to its probable client: the foreshortened pad bears the inscription June 28/see Mr Clarke/at St George Hotel, which refers to the collector Thomas B. Clarke. The dots of red wax on the candlestick imply that the bright red wax stick had just been used to seal the blue envelope at the bottom left corner. As such, this is as much a witty portrait of the transaction between Harnett and Clarke as it is a testament to the elegant appointment of the artist’s letter-writing supplies, including the stationery adorned with the embossed motif of a Japanese fan decorated with a crane and bamboo.
- Ridley-Tree Reopening, 2021