Still Life with Peonies

James A. Porter, Still Life with Peonies, 1949, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1994.59
James A. Porter, Still Life with Peonies, 1949, oil on canvas, 4030 18 in. (101.676.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1994.59

Artwork Details

Title
Still Life with Peonies
Date
1949
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
4030 18 in. (101.676.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Still life — other — vase
  • Still life — art object — painting
  • Still life — furniture — table
  • Still life — flower — peony
  • Still life — furniture — screen
Object Number
1994.59

Artwork Description

The softly brushed lines and gently calibrated color of Still Life with Peonies reflects Porter’s thinking about the confluence of the personal and the contextual in the practice of art. The exuberant vase of flowers negotiates with (and against) the vertical rungs and curved handrail. The simple screen and striped wallpaper serve as counterpoints to the energy of the peonies’ petals. Presented as the primary focus of the composition, Porter depicted the flowers carried by his wife, Dorothy, when she was honored at Howard University in 1947, while the painting-within-a-painting represents a canvas Porter completed during a research trip to Cuba and Haiti.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Works by this artist (17 items)

Bill Traylor, Untitled (Brown Pig), April 1940, opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.70, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Brown Pig)
DateApril 1940
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Radio), ca. 1940-1942, opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2016.14.4, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Radio)
Dateca. 1940-1942
opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Woman with Umbrella and Man on Crutch), 1939, pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1991.96.7, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Woman with Umbrella and Man on Crutch)
Date1939
pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Pig with Corkscrew Tail), ca. 1940, pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1983.11, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Pig with Corkscrew Tail)
Dateca. 1940
pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Nathan Oliveira, Site with Blue and White, 1978, monotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Moses Lasky, 2004.32.14
Site with Blue and White
Date1978
monotype
Not on view