1851-1892 Harnett was born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland during the time of the potato famine. Shortly after his birth his family emigrated to America, settling in Philadelphia. Becoming a United States citizen in 1868, he made a living as a young man by engraving designs on table silver, while also taking night classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later, in New York, at Cooper Union and at the National Academy of Design. His first known oil painting, a still life, dates from 1874. The style of trompe l'oeil painting that Harnett developed was distinctive and inspired many imitators, but it was not without precedent. A number of 17th century Dutch painters, Pieter Claesz. for instance, had specialized in tabletop still life of astonishing verisimilitude. Raphaelle Peale, working in Philadelphia in the early 19th century, pioneered the form in America. What sets Harnett's work apart, besides his enormous skill, is his interest in depicting objects not usually made the subject of a painting. Harnett painted musical instruments, hanging game, and tankards, but also painted the unconventional Golden Horseshoe (1886), a single rusted horseshoe shown nailed to a board. He painted a casual jumble of second-hand books set on top of a crate, Job Lot, Cheap (1878), as well as firearms and even paper currency. His works sold well, but they were more likely to be found hanging in a tavern or a business office than in a museum, as they did not conform to contemporary notions of high art. Harnett spent the years 1880?C1886 in Europe, staying in Munich from 1881 until early 1885. Harnett's best-known paintings, the four versions of After The Hunt, were painted between 1883 and 1885. Each is an imposing composition of hunting equipment and dead game, hanging on a door with ornate hinges at the right and keyhole plate at the left. These paintings, like the horseshoe or currency depictions mentioned earlier, are especially effective as trompe l'oeil because the objects occupy a shallow space, meaning that the illusion is not spoiled by parallax shift if the viewer moves. Overall, Harnett's work is most comparable to that of the slightly younger John F. Peto. The two artists knew each other, and a comparison can be made between two paintings featuring violins. Harnett's Music and Good Luck from 1888 shows the violin hanging upright on a door with ornate hinges and with a slightly torn piece of sheet music behind it. The elements are arranged in a stable, deliberate manner. Peto's 1890 painting shows the violin hanging askew, as well as chipped and worn, with one string broken. The sheet music is dog-eared and torn around the edges, and placed haphazardly behind the instrument. The hinges are less ornate, and one is broken. Harnett's objects show signs of use but are well preserved, while Peto's more humble objects are nearly used up. Crippling rheumatism plagued Harnett in his last years, reducing the number but not the quality of his paintings. He died in New York City in 1892. Other artists who painted similar compositions in Harnett's wake include his contemporary John Haberle and successors such as Otis Kaye and Jefferson David Chalfant.  Related Paintings of William Michael Harnett :. | Munich Still Life | Still Life with Turnips | Job Lot Cheap | Munich Still Life | Bankers Table |
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Henri Testelin
(Paris, 1616 - The Hague, 1695) was a French art painter. Henri Testelin made portraits of Louis XIV, important persons and events at the French court . Several of his paintings can be seen in the palace of Versailles. The portraits, like the one of the young Louis XIV, show the influence of Jean Nocret and Le Brun. He was secretary of Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture from 1650 and professor from 1656. In 1680 he published a book on art theory and the academy. Testelin was dismissed from the Academy in 1681, because he was proptestant. He left France and went to Holland.
Giuseppe Antonio Petrini
(October 23, 1677- c. 1755-9) was a painter of the late-Baroque, active mainly in Lugano, present-day Switzerland. St. Andrew City Museum of Rimini, ItalyWhile born in Carona in Canton Ticino and died in Lugano, both in Switzerland, Petrini belongs to the Northern Italian or Lombard heritage of baroque painting. He possibly apprenticed with Bartolomeo Guidobono after 1700. While some works can be found in Como and Bergamo, most are located in Lugano and the surrounding area. He is also listed between 1711 and 1753 as fabbriciere of the church of Madonna deOnegro in Carona. He often painted "portraits" of historical figures including saints, philosophers, and scientists for patrons. One of his more prominent examples is his depiction of an auster St. Peter emerging from the shadows to pinpoint some lines in the gospel. He painted another St. Peter for the parish church of Dubino. Pietro Ligari classified him among the speculative painters, since these portraits, by nature, were imagined.
Ottavio Leoni
Ottavio Leoni (1578 - 1630) was an Italian painter and printmaker of the early-Baroque, active mainly in Rome. He was born in Rome, where he first trained with his father, Lodovico Leoni. He painted altarpieces for churches in Rome such as an Annunciation for Sant'Eustachio and a Virgin and child with St. Giacinto for Santa Maria della Minerva, and a Saints Charles, Francis, & Nicholas for Sante Urbano. He became a member, and later president, of the Accademia di San Luca and a Cavalieri of the Order of Christ, on which occasion he presented the church of the Academy the Martyrdom of St. Martina. He died in Rome. Ottavio Leoni was also the engraver of a set of portraits of painters. His portrait of Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio is the only documented portrait of the painter by another artist. His work is exhibited in places such as Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art; Bowes Museum; Courtauld Institute of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Palazzo Ruspoli, Rome, Italy.