Old Souvenirs

John F. Peto

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A typical work by Peto, this painting bears the false signature of William Michael Harnett, his better-known contemporary. Actually, Harnett seems to have been inspired to create “rack” paintings by Peto’s example in pictures such as this one. Some of the objects stuck in the grid are dated or datable and provide clues to the years when the artist seems to have worked on the painting. The photograph of Peto’s daughter shown at the upper left was probably added, over an earlier portrait, around 1900, when the girl was about seven. Peto’s delineation of objects is more generalized and less purely descriptive than Harnett’s.

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