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Lot Essay
In 1885 William Harnett moved to Paris from Munich to test his artistic abilities at the Salon des Beaux Arts. Before his departure, he had completed three of the four renditions of After the Hunt, his brilliant trompe l'oeil still lifes depicting arrangements of game and hunting gear, hanging dramatically against a dark wooden door with elaborate metal hinges. Once he settled in Paris, he began work on the fourth and final version of After the Hunt (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Mildred Anna Williams Collection), "his greatest virtuoso effort." (E.J. Connell, "After the Hunt," in William Michael Harnett, Fort Worth, Texas, 1992, p. 277)
Of the four versions of After the Hunt, the last has proved to be the most dynamic. Larger and more complex than the other three, the implicit motion of the picture is so strong that it can be described as a dance routine: "The picture is highly charged with animation, humor and wonder. The dead animals are whimsically choreographed: a partridge executes a perfect upside-down pirouette at center stage, within the circumference of the hunting horn, while below, its mate imitates the stance in mirror image. The hare, still the bloodied, clinical specimen of the Trophy of the Hunt, is now positioned with its foot poised as if to spin the hunting horn like a wheel of fortune." ("After the Hunt," p. 277)
In the present work, Harnett combines the deadpan realism of his trompe l'oeil technique with a poetic gracefulness. The refined curve of the bird's body extends throughout its entire body to the tip of its feet. Its head is upheld in the most haughty manner, ironically by the string that binds it to the nail in the door. Its arrogant manner effectively rejects the viewer's inquisitive gaze. The razor sharp highlight on the bird's extended wing is not only an exhibition of the artist's talent, but helps transcend the work beyond a clinical study by immediately grabbing the viewer's attention. Virtually identical to the bird that hangs to the right of the ill-fated hare in the final version of After the Hunt (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Mildred Anna Williams Collection), is the single game bird in this work, upon which Harnett has chosen to concentrate all of his efforts. By highlighting a single game piece, the artist returns to his practice of several years earlier, just as he began the After the Hunt series. A small group of Harnett's Munich works of the early 1880s depicts a single bird against a wooden door that successfully incorporates the witty irony of Harnett's entire body of work. His inert game birds challenge the viewer either by returning the intense scrutiny or by exhibiting startlingly human posture.
This type of hanging still life is precisely what Harnett's late nineteenth century patrons were seeking. However, After the Hunt and its related works count for only one section in a long line of trompe l'oeil still lifes by the artist. Catering to his patrons' taste for both antiques and recognizable elements of their daily lives, Harnett depicted game pieces, antique bric-a-brac, newspapers, mugs and pipes. The majority of Harnett's works are comprised of just these elements. What can be discerned about Harnett's patrons is that they were wealthy--whether they inherited their wealth or earned it. Some were "sophisticated men who supported the founding and growth of the museums and art institutions" (D. Bolger, "The Patrons of the Artist," in William Michael Harnett, Fort Worth, Texas, 1992, p. 74), while others "began as store clerks, bookkeepers and salesmen [who] worked hard to achieve the affluence they enjoyed." ("The Patrons of the Artist," p. 74) Both groups would have been keenly interested in works that reflected their personalities. Some of his patrons would identify most strongly with the books, pipes and mugs that were parts of their daily lives, while others would have been drawn more strongly to the connotations behind one of Harnett's hunting pictures, where "instead of being an accurate record of a particular event, Harnett's paintings evoke more a broadly conceived aura of the hunt. Wealthy gentlemen, his intended patrons, would recognize and admire these references to the success of their sporting exploits." ("After the Hunt," p. 277)
Harnett's hanging still lifes would have been the ultimate recognizable and fashionable work of art in the late nineteenth century. In fact, "hanging still lifes first became popular in the 1850s through prints by Currier and Ives after game pieces by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait. In the mid-1870s, L. Prang and Company published a series of 'Dining-Room Pictures' that included game pieces of waterfowl hanging in front of a neutral background. These chromolithographs, reproduced from paintings by George N. Cass and G. Bossett, were destined to decorate many a Victorian dining room and parlor." ("After the Hunt," p. 281)
Harnett holds an exceptional spot within the context of late nineteenth century still life painting, due in equal parts to his virtuoso technique and to his subtle wit. In few instances are these two attributes so magnificently displayed than in this version of After the Hunt. It leaves no question as to why Harnett's series "became a prototype for many successive hanging game and other vertical still lifes." ("After the Hunt," p. 285)
Of the four versions of After the Hunt, the last has proved to be the most dynamic. Larger and more complex than the other three, the implicit motion of the picture is so strong that it can be described as a dance routine: "The picture is highly charged with animation, humor and wonder. The dead animals are whimsically choreographed: a partridge executes a perfect upside-down pirouette at center stage, within the circumference of the hunting horn, while below, its mate imitates the stance in mirror image. The hare, still the bloodied, clinical specimen of the Trophy of the Hunt, is now positioned with its foot poised as if to spin the hunting horn like a wheel of fortune." ("After the Hunt," p. 277)
In the present work, Harnett combines the deadpan realism of his trompe l'oeil technique with a poetic gracefulness. The refined curve of the bird's body extends throughout its entire body to the tip of its feet. Its head is upheld in the most haughty manner, ironically by the string that binds it to the nail in the door. Its arrogant manner effectively rejects the viewer's inquisitive gaze. The razor sharp highlight on the bird's extended wing is not only an exhibition of the artist's talent, but helps transcend the work beyond a clinical study by immediately grabbing the viewer's attention. Virtually identical to the bird that hangs to the right of the ill-fated hare in the final version of After the Hunt (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Mildred Anna Williams Collection), is the single game bird in this work, upon which Harnett has chosen to concentrate all of his efforts. By highlighting a single game piece, the artist returns to his practice of several years earlier, just as he began the After the Hunt series. A small group of Harnett's Munich works of the early 1880s depicts a single bird against a wooden door that successfully incorporates the witty irony of Harnett's entire body of work. His inert game birds challenge the viewer either by returning the intense scrutiny or by exhibiting startlingly human posture.
This type of hanging still life is precisely what Harnett's late nineteenth century patrons were seeking. However, After the Hunt and its related works count for only one section in a long line of trompe l'oeil still lifes by the artist. Catering to his patrons' taste for both antiques and recognizable elements of their daily lives, Harnett depicted game pieces, antique bric-a-brac, newspapers, mugs and pipes. The majority of Harnett's works are comprised of just these elements. What can be discerned about Harnett's patrons is that they were wealthy--whether they inherited their wealth or earned it. Some were "sophisticated men who supported the founding and growth of the museums and art institutions" (D. Bolger, "The Patrons of the Artist," in William Michael Harnett, Fort Worth, Texas, 1992, p. 74), while others "began as store clerks, bookkeepers and salesmen [who] worked hard to achieve the affluence they enjoyed." ("The Patrons of the Artist," p. 74) Both groups would have been keenly interested in works that reflected their personalities. Some of his patrons would identify most strongly with the books, pipes and mugs that were parts of their daily lives, while others would have been drawn more strongly to the connotations behind one of Harnett's hunting pictures, where "instead of being an accurate record of a particular event, Harnett's paintings evoke more a broadly conceived aura of the hunt. Wealthy gentlemen, his intended patrons, would recognize and admire these references to the success of their sporting exploits." ("After the Hunt," p. 277)
Harnett's hanging still lifes would have been the ultimate recognizable and fashionable work of art in the late nineteenth century. In fact, "hanging still lifes first became popular in the 1850s through prints by Currier and Ives after game pieces by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait. In the mid-1870s, L. Prang and Company published a series of 'Dining-Room Pictures' that included game pieces of waterfowl hanging in front of a neutral background. These chromolithographs, reproduced from paintings by George N. Cass and G. Bossett, were destined to decorate many a Victorian dining room and parlor." ("After the Hunt," p. 281)
Harnett holds an exceptional spot within the context of late nineteenth century still life painting, due in equal parts to his virtuoso technique and to his subtle wit. In few instances are these two attributes so magnificently displayed than in this version of After the Hunt. It leaves no question as to why Harnett's series "became a prototype for many successive hanging game and other vertical still lifes." ("After the Hunt," p. 285)