Still Life—Violin and Music

William Michael Harnett

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Harnett was the most imitated and skillful still-life painter in late nineteenth-century America, celebrated for his many arrangements that pushed the art of trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”) to its limits. While this complex composition may at first appear flat, it is full of depth and plasticity, emphasizing the tension between illusion and reality. The depicted hinged door is slightly ajar, and the humble objects hang on prominent nails, casting strong shadows. The instruments and torn sheet music for a popular Irish reel underline Harnett’s humorous sense of play as well as his Irish-American identity.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art