Genre and Still Life Painting

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, 1864
Rejecting a European-based affinity for grand historical scenes, the New York artist William Sydney Mount painted subjects drawn from everyday life that often carried veiled political messages. Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, one of his very few still lifes, illustrates this approach. The apparent simplicity of the composition—two ripe apples, set on a pair of overturned cups— belies a complex symbolic discourse concerning the American Civil War (1861–65). The humble tin cup, part of a Union soldier’s equipment, represents the army, while the apple, a fruit so associated with America’s northern colonies that it became a national emblem, stands for the United States. By juxtaposing these objects, the artist suggests that Union forces literally support the country. Mount’s seemingly mundane subject delivers a compelling political message and addresses the larger theme of national identity and allegiance.
Learn more about this painting on the Terra Foundation website.
Genre and Still Life Painting

Eastman Johnson (1824–1906)
Fiddling His Way, c. 1866

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902)
The Home of the Red, White, and Blue, c. 1867–68

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
Fruit Piece: Apples on Tin Cups, 1864

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Apple Picking, 1878

William Sidney Mount (1807–1868)
The Trap Sprung, 1844

Robert Spear Dunning (1829–1905)
Harvest of Cherries, 1866

Samuel Colman, Jr. (1832–1920)
Ships Unloading, New York, 1868

John George Brown (1831–1913)
Picnic Party in the Woods, 1872

Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904)
Still Life with Apple Blossoms in a Nautilus Shell, 1870

Thomas Waterman Wood (1783–1872)
The Yankee Pedlar, 1872

George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879)
The Jolly Flatboatmen, 1877–78

John Haberle (1853–1933)
One Dollar Bill, 1890

Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
The Whittling Boy, 1873

John Frederick Peto (1854–1907)
Old Time Letter Rack, 1894