Pink Peonies

Artist Victor Higgins (American, 1884 - 1949)

Datec. 1929-1930

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions40 1/8 x 45 3/8 inches (101.9 x 115.2 cm)
Frame: 43 1/2 × 48 1/2 × 1 3/4 inches (110.5 × 123.2 × 4.4 cm)

Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965

Object number31.17.9

ClassificationsPaintings

DescriptionHorizontal oil painting depicts a white bowl containing light pink peony flowers resting on a white square of cloth and a brown square table. The table stands on a rug with concentric circles of color and in front of an ornate blue and gold wallpaper.

Label TextHiggins painted a genre of painting known as a still life. A still life depicts an arrangement of objects. These paintings sometimes have moral messages and sometimes they just celebrate the beauty of things. In Higgins painting, a bowl of lush, pink peonies dominates the painting. The artist included enough architectural details and furnishings to indicate the interior of a home. Yet he skews the perspective and adds a non-logical element. Did the artist tell a story or concentrate on visual challenges?

ProvenanceArtist; Joan Higgins Reed, Taos, New Mexico (daughter and heir of artist) [1]; purchased Janurary 4, 1957 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | 1. Jane Hiatt of La Fonda Art Gallery was the go-between for the sale and shipping but the check was made out to Mrs. Joan Reed.

On View

Not on view