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Joseph Decker
1853–1924
BirthplaceWürttemberg, Germany
Death placeBrooklyn, New York, United States of America
BiographyJoseph Decker’s pictured arrangements of fruit in containers, on tabletops, or on tree boughs often challenged the conventions of still-life painting. Decker was a native of Württemberg, Germany, the son of a carpenter. Brought to the United States at the age of fourteen, he went to work in Brooklyn, New York, as a decorative sign painter. For three years, Decker studied in the evenings at the National Academy of Design, where he began to exhibit his paintings in 1878. The following year he returned to his native Germany to study for one year at the Royal Academy in Munich with influential painter of historical scenes Wilhelm Lindenschmidt (1829–1895).
Throughout the 1880s, Decker presented his work at several prestigious annual exhibitions. His signature still-life paintings of this decade are dense, strikingly realistic representations of battered fruit on tree branches crowded close to the picture plane and cut off by the canvas’s edge. While these works partake of some elements of the then contemporary trend toward illusionistic realism known as trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”) painting, Decker’s compositions were thoroughly unconventional. Critics dismissed his still-life paintings accordingly, and rejected his unidealized images of urban children as well. Around 1886, however, the artist made the acquaintance of the important patron Thomas B. Clarke. In addition to buying as many as eight of Decker’s works, Clarke employed him as a caretaker for his collection of Chinese porcelains.
In the 1890s, Decker’s style shifted under the influence of growing artistic trends toward evident brushwork, brighter color, and the aesthetics of Asian art. His later still-life paintings demonstrate his abandonment of the adventurous formats of the previous decade in favor of softly painted fruit placed decorously within light-colored settings. Inspired by the visionary landscapist George Inness, he also made landscape paintings.
Decker remained a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, although he made several visits to Germany, some for extended periods. Evidently discouraged by his critical failure, after 1889 he ceased to submit his work for juried exhibitions, and he may have abandoned painting after 1911, the date of his last recorded work. Despite the enthusiasm of a few patrons in addition to Clarke, the artist never achieved financial security. Around 1917 Decker’s health failed. When he died six years later in a Brooklyn hospital’s charity ward, he was penniless and virtually unknown.
Throughout the 1880s, Decker presented his work at several prestigious annual exhibitions. His signature still-life paintings of this decade are dense, strikingly realistic representations of battered fruit on tree branches crowded close to the picture plane and cut off by the canvas’s edge. While these works partake of some elements of the then contemporary trend toward illusionistic realism known as trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”) painting, Decker’s compositions were thoroughly unconventional. Critics dismissed his still-life paintings accordingly, and rejected his unidealized images of urban children as well. Around 1886, however, the artist made the acquaintance of the important patron Thomas B. Clarke. In addition to buying as many as eight of Decker’s works, Clarke employed him as a caretaker for his collection of Chinese porcelains.
In the 1890s, Decker’s style shifted under the influence of growing artistic trends toward evident brushwork, brighter color, and the aesthetics of Asian art. His later still-life paintings demonstrate his abandonment of the adventurous formats of the previous decade in favor of softly painted fruit placed decorously within light-colored settings. Inspired by the visionary landscapist George Inness, he also made landscape paintings.
Decker remained a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, although he made several visits to Germany, some for extended periods. Evidently discouraged by his critical failure, after 1889 he ceased to submit his work for juried exhibitions, and he may have abandoned painting after 1911, the date of his last recorded work. Despite the enthusiasm of a few patrons in addition to Clarke, the artist never achieved financial security. Around 1917 Decker’s health failed. When he died six years later in a Brooklyn hospital’s charity ward, he was penniless and virtually unknown.