JOHN FREDERICK PETO
STILL LIFE WITH MARKET BASKET, HAT AND UMBRELLA
LOT SOLD. 81,250
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
OLD HOUSE AT COOPER'S POINT, NEW JERSEY
LOT SOLD. 10,625
Sotheby's 2013
Estimation 15,000 — 25,000
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
STILL LIFE WITH ORANGES AND A BOX OF CONFECTIONS
Estimate 60,000 — 80,000
Sotheby's May 2015
A REDISCOVERED TROMPE-L’OEIL PAINTING BY JOHN FREDERICK PETO
While trompe-l’oeil has clear art historical precedents in antiquity as well as 17 th and 18 th century Europe, Peto skillfully adapts the technique to 19 th century America in Old Time Letter Rack from 1894 (estimate $800,0 00–1.2 million). He fills the composition with autobiographical referenc es: his inclusion of envelopes postmarked Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, as well as another addressed to Peto himself in Island Heights, New Jersey and the copy of Dayton’s Evening Herald newspaper, refer to the period in the late 1880s and early 1890s during which he traveled regularly between Ohio and New Jersey. Old Time Letter Rack was discovered in California in 2006; its previous history is unknown, as is typical of many of his works.
Sotheby's May 2015
A REDISCOVERED TROMPE-L’OEIL PAINTING BY JOHN FREDERICK PETO
While trompe-l’oeil has clear art historical precedents in antiquity as well as 17 th and 18 th century Europe, Peto skillfully adapts the technique to 19 th century America in Old Time Letter Rack from 1894 (estimate $800,0 00–1.2 million). He fills the composition with autobiographical referenc es: his inclusion of envelopes postmarked Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, as well as another addressed to Peto himself in Island Heights, New Jersey and the copy of Dayton’s Evening Herald newspaper, refer to the period in the late 1880s and early 1890s during which he traveled regularly between Ohio and New Jersey. Old Time Letter Rack was discovered in California in 2006; its previous history is unknown, as is typical of many of his works.
Sotheby's 2012
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
JUG, BOOK, BOX AND MUG
Estimate 15,000 — 25,000
Sotheby's 2011
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
WINE AND BRASS STEWING KETTLE (PREPARATION OF FRENCH POTAGE)
LOT SOLD. 37,500
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
STEIN AND BISCUITS
LOT SOLD. 31,250
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
STILL LIFE WITH BOOKS
LOT SOLD. 22,500
Sotheby's 2010
JOHN FREDERICK PETO
1854 - 1907
1854 - 1907
OFFICE BOARD FOR JOHN FREDERICK PETO
LOT SOLD. 206,500
STILL LIFE WITH MILK CAN AND BISCUITS
LOT SOLD. 25,000
LOT SOLD. 25,000
Bonhams 19 Nov 2014
Biography
The still life painter John Frederick Peto was born in 1854 in Philadelphia. In 1878 he enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he exhibited between 1879 and 1888. There he met and befriended William Michael Harnett, whose trompe l'oeil still lifes exerted a decisive influence on his career. Peto opened a studio in 1880, and earned a meager living by painting rack pictures for Philadelphia's aesthetically unsophisticated business and professional men. He was reputed to have made photographic and painted portraits to support himself. In 1887 he married Christine Pearl Smith of Leredo, Ohio. An able cornetist, he began to perform for the Methodist Island Heights Camp Meeting Association in New Jersey, where he built a house in 1889. Peto painted in semi-seclusion and obscurity there for the remainder of his life. He died in Island Heights in 1907.Peto was almost completely forgotten until 1949, when Alfred Frankenstein published an article in which he identified nineteen paintings from major private collections and museums that had been attributed to Harnett but had really been painted by Peto. With the advent of further interest and research on American still life painting, Peto gradually emerged as a distinct artistic personality whose work could be differentiated from Harnett's by its looser brushwork, warm tonality, and aura of subtle melancholy created by his tendency to represent objects deteriorated by age. He painted a wide variety of still life subjects, comprising letter racks holding printed matter, shelves of books, tabletops, and doors with hanging musical instruments.
Skinner 2006
John Frederick Peto (American, 1854-1907)
Still Life with Books and Pipe
- Sold for:
- $149,000
Bonhams 2013JOHN FREDERICK PETO(American, 1854-1907)Still life with books9 x 12inUS$ 20,000 - 30,000
Christie's 2013
Christie's 2011
Christie's 2007
Christie's 2006
Christie's 2000
Christie's 1999
Christie's 1998
Christie's 1996
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
-
- Peto, John Frederick (painter)
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- Still Life with Oranges and Goblet of Wine
- 1880-1890s
- oil on artist's board
- overall: 15.6 x 23.2 cm (6 1/8 x 9 1/8 in.)
- framed: 25.4 x 33.02 x 2.22 cm (10 x 13 x 7/8 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 1999.79.32
-
- Peto, John Frederick (painter)
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- The Blue Envelope
- c. 1890s
- oil on wood
- overall: 10.8 x 16.5 cm (4 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.)
- framed: 20 x 26 x 1.6 cm (7 7/8 x 10 1/4 x 5/8 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 1999.79.28
-
- Peto, John Frederick (painter)
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- Breakfast
- c. 1890s
- oil on academy board
- overall: 14.8 x 22 cm (5 13/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
- framed: 25.4 x 32.54 x 2.22 cm (10 x 12 13/16 x 7/8 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 1999.79.29
-
- Peto, John Frederick (painter)
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- An English Breakfast
- c. 1890s
- oil on academy board
- overall: 14.8 x 22 cm (5 13/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
- framed: 25.72 x 33.02 x 2.22 cm (10 1/8 x 13 x 7/8 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 1999.79.30
-
- Peto, John Frederick (painter)
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- The Old Kettle
- c. 1890s
- oil on wood
- overall: 12.7 x 20.3 cm (5 x 8 in.)
- framed: 22.86 x 29.85 x 2.22 cm (9 x 11 3/4 x 7/8 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 1999.79.31
-
- Peto, John Frederick
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- The Old Violin
- c. 1890
- oil on canvas
- overall: 77.2 x 58.1 cm (30 3/8 x 22 7/8 in.)
- framed: 94.3 x 74.6 x 5.7 cm (37 1/8 x 29 3/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
- Gift of the Avalon Foundation
- 1974.19.1
-
- Peto, John Frederick
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- Still Life with Cake, Lemon, Strawberries, and Glass
- 1890
- oil on canvas
- overall: 25.72 × 35.4 cm (10 1/8 × 13 15/16 in.)
- framed: 36.2 × 46.36 × 3.81 cm (14 1/4 × 18 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 2014.18.37
-
- Peto, John Frederick
- , American, 1854 - 1907
- Straw Hat, Bag, and Umbrella
- 1890/early 1900s
- oil on canvas on academy board
- overall: 39.69 × 24.45 cm (15 5/8 × 9 5/8 in.)
- framed: 42.39 × 26.99 × 3.97 cm (16 11/16 × 10 5/8 × 1 9/16 in.)
- Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
- 2014.18.39
- Peto, John Frederick
- , American, 1854 - 1907
-
- For the Track
- 1895
- oil on canvas
- overall: 110.5 x 75.9 cm (43 1/2 x 29 7/8 in.)
- framed: 135.9 x 101.6 cm (53 1/2 x 40 in.)
- Gift of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr., in honor of Earl A. Powell III
- 1997.131.1
- On View
