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(American, 1829–1905)

Harvest of Cherries

1866
Oil on canvas
Image: 20 x 26 1/2 in. (50.8 x 67.3 cm)
Frame: 32 x 38 7/8 in. (81.3 x 98.7 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1999.48
SignedLower right: R.S. Dunning 1866
Interpretation
One of Robert Spear Dunning’s earliest still life paintings, Harvest of Cherries exemplifies the outdoor, rustic subjects that constitute one facet of his still-life work. Amidst trampled wild grass at the foot of a tree, shiny red cherries at the peak of ripeness overflow from a wickerwork basket and a man’s straw hat, while a woman’s bonnet adorned with a blue satin ribbon is propped against both these containers. These humble, casually placed things evoke a summertime ramble in the countryside, a moment of carefree leisure with overtones of courtship, rather than the drudgery of routine agriculture. The slight tears in the brim of the man’s hat contrast with the flawless state of the cherries, traditionally symbolic of the rewards of virtuousness, as if to point up the failings of humankind relative to the perfection of nature.

The precise delineation of the forms and surface textures of inanimate objects in Harvest of Cherries, which won the praise of contemporary critics, reflects a still-life tradition with its roots in seventeenth-century Dutch art. Its outdoor, natural setting, in contrast, departed from that tradition, perhaps under the influence of the pre-Raphaelite movement, which reached its maturity in the United States in the 1860s. In its stress on strict fidelity to nature, pre-Raphaelite still-life painting showed such objects as flowers, rocks, and birds’ nests seemingly as they were found in nature. Dunning’s objects, however, are pointedly the products of human activity in selecting, making, or placing, to the end of presenting moralizing reflections on human experience.
ProvenanceThe artist
William Doyle Galleries, New York, October 24, 1984
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, October 1984
Daniel J. Terra Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1999
Exhibition History
Exhibition, Goupil & Company, New York, New York, 1866.

The New Path: Ruskin and the American Pre-Raphaelites, The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, March 28–June 10, 1985; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, July 3–September 8, 1985. [exh. cat.]

Nineteenth Century Genre Painting from The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Life in 19th Century America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 24–September 6, 1987.

Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.

Permanent collection installation, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, July 10–October 30, 2005.

La Scène américaine, 1860–1930 (Americans at Home, 1860–1930), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Giverny, France, April 1–October 29, 2006.

Manifest Destiny, Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois and Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venue: Loyola University Museum of Art, May 17–August 10, 2008. [exh. cat.]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, December 2010– October 2013.

Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture and Cuisine, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (organizer); Venue: Art Institute of Chicago, November 12, 2013–January 27, 2014; Art and Appetite: American Art, Culture, and Cuisine, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, February 22–May 18, 2014. [exh. cat.]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, January 2017–present.

Published References
New York Herald (March 6, 1866): 10, col. 6.

New York Times (March 12, 1866): 6, col.3.

The Magazine Antiques 126:4 (October 1984): 797. Ill. p. 797 (color).

William Doyle Galleries, New York (Sale: Important 19th and 20th Century American Painting and Sculpture, October 24, 1984): 36. Ill. no. 36.

American Paintings III 1985. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1985. Ill. p. 40 (color).

Ferber, Linda S. and William H. Gerdts. The New Path: Ruskin and the American Pre-Raphaelites. (exh. cat., The Brooklyn Museum). Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Museum, 1985. Text p. 252; ill. no. 97, p. 253 (black & white).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-29, p. 138 (color).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." The Journal of the American Medical Association 264:6 (August 8, 1990): 685. Text p. 685; ill. cover (color).

Brownlee, Peter John. Manifest Destiny / Manifest Responsibility: Environmentalism and the Art of the American Landscape. (exh. cat., Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art and Loyola University Museum of Art, 2008. Text p. 35 (checklist).

Barter, Judith A., ed. Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine. (exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois). Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013. Text, pp. 98–99, 123, 170, 223; ill. pp. 70 (color) (detail), 98 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 93; ill. p. 93 (color).