John Vanderlyn, Jr. (1805-1876)
Still Life: Fruit in a Classical Setting
Oil on canvas, c. 1854-58
AIHA Collection

An obscure figure in the history of American art, John Vanderlyn Jr. was based for much of his life in Kingston, N.Y., the family seat of the dynasty of Vanderlyn family painters which included his great-grandfather, Pieter Vanderlyn (1687-1778). Vanderlyn Jr. was involved with artisan work as a sign and house painter, and as an independent artist was principally engaged in portrait painting.

This painting reflects the projection of bountifulness which characterizes much mid-19th century American still-life painting by artists better known today, such as Severin Roesen (c. 1815-1871). Pears appear to dominate among the fruits in this picture, as they did in contemporary pomological literature; as early as 1845 the landscape gardener Alexander Jackson Downing (1815-1852) wrote that "the Pear is undoubtedly the favorite fruit of modern times and modern cultivators."

Ariaantie Coeymans Verplanck

by Nehemia Partridge

A Sculptor's Studio

by Tompkins H. Matteson

The Fondey Family

by Ezra Ames

Still Life: Fruit in a Classical Setting

by John Vanderlyn, Jr.

The Fist

by Alice Morgan Wright

Margin of Silence

by Kay Sage

Thoroughbreds

by Walter L. Greene

Bust of Young Girl

by Charles Calverley

Library at Arbor Hill (Olcott Interior)

by Walter Launt Palmer

Emma Turner Banks

by Charles Loring Elliot