Violin and Bow
This work is a simplified repetition of a picture Chalfant had painted the previous year, "The Old Violin" (Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington), which itself depended on William Michael Harnett’s more complex painting of the same title (1886; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). Here, Chalfant focused only on the fiddle, a popular nineteenth-century instrument, hanging with its bow against a background of silvery paneled wood. Chalfant’s precision and exactitude, as well as the extreme austerity of the composition and palette, give his trompe-l’oeil (“deceive the eye”) effects astonishing conviction and veracity.
Artwork Details
- Title: Violin and Bow
- Artist: Jefferson D. Chalfant (American, 1856–1931)
- Date: 1889
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 36 x 21 5/8 in. (91.4 x 54.9 cm)
- Credit Line: George A. Hearn Fund, 1966
- Object Number: 66.169
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Jefferson D. Chalfant
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