American Painting -- William M. Harnett

 

The ninth stamp in the annually issued American Painting Series was placed on sale at Boston, Massachusetts, on December 3, 1969. The stamp depicted the painting "Old Models" by William M. Harnett which is held in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This painting is painted in the trompe l'oeil style. Trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye") is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

"Old Models" features typical subject matter painted by Harnett. He owned a collection of musical instruments and often used them as props. This painting was painted shortly before Harnett died in 1892 and  is considered one of his best compositions.

The violin was also depicted in Harnett's 1886 painting, "The Old Violin," featured in the video below. (Note: that painting also includes a stamped envelope. Video best viewed in full screen mode.)

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog