Still Life, Basket of Apples
- Artist
- Vincent van Gogh, Dutch, 1853–1890
- Date
- 1887
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Paris, Île-de-France region, Western Europe, France, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 218
- Dimensions
- 18 3/8 x 21 3/4 in. (46.7 x 55.3 cm)
framed: 28 1/2 in. x 32 in. x 3 3/4 in. (72.4 x 81.3 x 9.5 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr.
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 43:1972
NOTES
The bounty of nature is suggested in this view of 10 apples in a wicker basket. The red outlines of the apples complement their green texture while the blue-violet shadows offset the dominant golden-yellow color of the composition. Vincent van Gogh rarely signed his paintings but here used only his first name as a signature. This work is one of a series of still lifes that the artist painted in Paris in 1887.
Provenance
1887 -
Alexander Reid (1854–1928), Paris, France; Glasgow, Scotland, gift of the artist; James Gardner Reid, Glasgow, Scotland [1]
c.1889 -
Jos Hessel Art Gallery, Paris, France [2]
c.1905 - 1925
Félix Edouard Vallotton (1865–1925), Paris, France, acquired from Jos Hessel, by exchange [3]
1925 - still in 1928
Galerie Paul Vallotton [Paul Vallotton], Lausanne, Switzerland, acquired from Félix Vallotton [4]
by 1935 - still in 1943
Wildenstein Art Gallery, New York, NY, USA [5]
c.1943 - c.1950
Millicent Rogers (1902–1953), Taos, NM; New York, NY [6]
by 1954 -
Joan Whitney Payson (Mrs. Charles S. Payson) (1903–1975), New York, NY
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY
- 1972
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr., St. Louis, MO
1972 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr. (1881–1975) [7]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is de la Faille's catalogue raisonné, the 1970 revised edition, cat. no. 379 [Faille, J.-B. de la. "The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings." Amsterdam, Meulenhoff International, 1970]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] The artist gave the painting shortly after it was completed in 1887 to Alexander Reid, with whom he was living in Paris [Pickvance, Ronald. "Van Gogh in Arles." New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984; Cooper, Douglas. "Alex Reid, van Gogh, and the Lefevre Gallery," in "Yearbook and Directory of Members of the Society of London Art Dealers," 1994]. When Reid moved to Glasgow in 1888, he took the painting with him. He later left the painting in the care of his father, James Reid, who sold it along with van Gogh's "Portrait of Alexander Reid" to a French dealer for £10 [Cooper 1994]. This transfer occurred around 1889, according to research supplied by the organizers of the exhibition "Van Gogh and Britain: Pioneer Collectors" [letter from Michael Clarke and Richard Gray dated April 4, 2003, SLAM document files].
[2] Alexander Reid's son, A. J. McNeill Reid, reports that Jos Hessel most likely purchased the painting from James Reid on a visit to Glasgow [letter from Martin Bailey, dated December 31, 2002, referencing McNeill Reid's notes in the National Library, Scotland, SLAM document files]. As confirmation of the transfer of the painting from Hessel to Vallotton, Bailey cites a footnote in a publication by Sasha Newman, which references a letter from Jos Hessel to Vallotton, dated November 19, 1920. It indicates that Hessel bought a painting from Vallotton in exchange for a still life by van Gogh. Vallotton notes at the foot of the letter that the exchange was made in 1897 [Newman, Sasha M. "Félix Vallotton." New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1991, p. 287; SLAM document files].
[3] See note [2].
[4] Upon Félix Vallotton's death in 1925, the painting was acquired by the Paul Vallotton Art Gallery. It was recorded as being in the collection of Paul Vallotton (Félix Vallotton's brother) at the time of de la Faille's 1928 first edition of his catalogue raisonné [Faille, J.-B. de la. "L'oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné." Paris; Bruxelle: Les Éditions G. van Oest, 1928].
[5] The painting is documented in the collection of Wildenstein, New York, in exhibition catalogs from 1935, 1941, and 1943 ["One Hundred Years of French Painting, 1820-1920." Kansas City, MO: The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, 1935; "Aspects of French Painting from Cézanne to Picasso." Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum, 1941; "The Art and Life of Vincent Van Gogh: A Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief." New York: Wildenstein, 1943].
[6] According to staff members at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, NM, Millicent Rogers might have purchased the painting from Wildenstein around 1943. She exhibited it in the 1940's in her Taos home where it hung in the dining room, and sold it in the late 1940s or early 1950s [SLAM document files].
[7] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 17, 1972.
Alexander Reid (1854–1928), Paris, France; Glasgow, Scotland, gift of the artist; James Gardner Reid, Glasgow, Scotland [1]
c.1889 -
Jos Hessel Art Gallery, Paris, France [2]
c.1905 - 1925
Félix Edouard Vallotton (1865–1925), Paris, France, acquired from Jos Hessel, by exchange [3]
1925 - still in 1928
Galerie Paul Vallotton [Paul Vallotton], Lausanne, Switzerland, acquired from Félix Vallotton [4]
by 1935 - still in 1943
Wildenstein Art Gallery, New York, NY, USA [5]
c.1943 - c.1950
Millicent Rogers (1902–1953), Taos, NM; New York, NY [6]
by 1954 -
Joan Whitney Payson (Mrs. Charles S. Payson) (1903–1975), New York, NY
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY
- 1972
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr., St. Louis, MO
1972 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr. (1881–1975) [7]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is de la Faille's catalogue raisonné, the 1970 revised edition, cat. no. 379 [Faille, J.-B. de la. "The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings." Amsterdam, Meulenhoff International, 1970]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] The artist gave the painting shortly after it was completed in 1887 to Alexander Reid, with whom he was living in Paris [Pickvance, Ronald. "Van Gogh in Arles." New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984; Cooper, Douglas. "Alex Reid, van Gogh, and the Lefevre Gallery," in "Yearbook and Directory of Members of the Society of London Art Dealers," 1994]. When Reid moved to Glasgow in 1888, he took the painting with him. He later left the painting in the care of his father, James Reid, who sold it along with van Gogh's "Portrait of Alexander Reid" to a French dealer for £10 [Cooper 1994]. This transfer occurred around 1889, according to research supplied by the organizers of the exhibition "Van Gogh and Britain: Pioneer Collectors" [letter from Michael Clarke and Richard Gray dated April 4, 2003, SLAM document files].
[2] Alexander Reid's son, A. J. McNeill Reid, reports that Jos Hessel most likely purchased the painting from James Reid on a visit to Glasgow [letter from Martin Bailey, dated December 31, 2002, referencing McNeill Reid's notes in the National Library, Scotland, SLAM document files]. As confirmation of the transfer of the painting from Hessel to Vallotton, Bailey cites a footnote in a publication by Sasha Newman, which references a letter from Jos Hessel to Vallotton, dated November 19, 1920. It indicates that Hessel bought a painting from Vallotton in exchange for a still life by van Gogh. Vallotton notes at the foot of the letter that the exchange was made in 1897 [Newman, Sasha M. "Félix Vallotton." New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1991, p. 287; SLAM document files].
[3] See note [2].
[4] Upon Félix Vallotton's death in 1925, the painting was acquired by the Paul Vallotton Art Gallery. It was recorded as being in the collection of Paul Vallotton (Félix Vallotton's brother) at the time of de la Faille's 1928 first edition of his catalogue raisonné [Faille, J.-B. de la. "L'oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné." Paris; Bruxelle: Les Éditions G. van Oest, 1928].
[5] The painting is documented in the collection of Wildenstein, New York, in exhibition catalogs from 1935, 1941, and 1943 ["One Hundred Years of French Painting, 1820-1920." Kansas City, MO: The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, 1935; "Aspects of French Painting from Cézanne to Picasso." Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum, 1941; "The Art and Life of Vincent Van Gogh: A Loan Exhibition in Aid of American and Dutch War Relief." New York: Wildenstein, 1943].
[6] According to staff members at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, NM, Millicent Rogers might have purchased the painting from Wildenstein around 1943. She exhibited it in the 1940's in her Taos home where it hung in the dining room, and sold it in the late 1940s or early 1950s [SLAM document files].
[7] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 17, 1972.