Old Models
by HARNETT, William Michael, Oil on canvas, 138 x 72 cm
Harnett was born in Ireland and emigrated to Philadelphia as a child. He first learned engraving and then studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and at the National Academy of Design and Cooper Union. He executed mainly still-lifes and excelled in the rendering of textures and trompe-l’oeil (eye-deceiving) realistic effects.