Still Life — Black Grapes, by Elosie Harriet Stannard, 1829-1915

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Still Life — Black Grapes

Eloise Harriet Stannard (1829-1915)

1881

Oil on canvas

39.4 x 36.2 cm

Eloise followed her aunt Emily in her choice of subject, liking to paint "as objectively as possible" (Moore 96).

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Eloise Stannard explained, "I always suffered a good deal from depression; and I cannot describe what relief and companionship I found in trying to copy the minutest of natural effects. Frankly, I do not think this painstaking sort of work is done nowadays with anything like the success that it used to be. There is not so much finish about it. As with everything else, the tendency is all towards rush and hurry" (qtd. in Moore 96).

Here, the glossy black grapes are precisely defined and thrown into relief by the whicker basket, the curling, russet vine leaves and the mossy brick wall with ivy growing up it. An apple and secateurs rest beside them and a butterfly has landed on one of the handles of the latter. Even the woodgrain of the old table is rendered minutely.

Link to related material

Pamela Gerrish Nunn on Eloise Stannard's choice of subject

Bibliography

Moore, Andrew W. The Norwich School of Artists. 2nd impression. London: Norfolk Museum Service, 1995.

Still Life - Black Grapes. Norfolk Museums Collections. Web. 10 April 2022.

Created 9 April 2022