Quince Blossoms (Primary Title)
Charles Caryl Coleman, American, 1840 - 1928 (Artist)
Charles Caryl Coleman was ranked by his late-19th-century contemporaries as the preeminent painter of “decorative” still lifes set in harmonious artist-designed frames. He remains best known for such refined work, exemplified by Quince Blossoms. Produced in Italy for an international clientele, this series of some fourteen paintings features precisely arranged flowers and bric-a-brac from the artist’s personal collection. Here, flowering quince branches rest in a large Italian earthenware vase near a Japanese export paper fan and Chinese ceramic bowls. All are set against an embroidered Near Eastern textile. Coleman’s interest in seeking decorative effects through the combination of different styles and cultures lay at the heart of the era’s Aesthetic movement, a multidimensional phenomenon explored in this gallery.
Quince Blossoms was the initial painting acquired with support from the J. Harwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art, VMFA’s first endowment for historical American art.
"54th Annual Exhibition," Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, (1883) as either White Azaleas, no. 65, or Almond Blossoms, no. 66.
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