A Dessert 1814

Editor: Here we have Raphaelle Peale's "A Dessert" from 1814, an oil painting that’s part of the Romanticism movement. There's something so calm and inviting about this still life, but almost artificially posed, in its balance. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a challenge to the very notion of American abundance and identity that was being carefully crafted at the time. Consider the Peale family – artists embedded in constructing a national narrative. Raphaelle, though, repeatedly returns to this seemingly simple subject of desserts and still-lifes. Editor: Simple in what sense? Curator: The excess isn't really there, is it? It's a sparse dessert, not overly lavish. Where is the display of wealth we may expect? Consider also Raphaelle's personal struggles, and the way his art perhaps acts as an indirect commentary on societal expectations of success. Do you notice the almost melancholy stillness? Editor: I didn’t consider it that way. I thought of still-life paintings of fruit as displays of wealth. Curator: And that's precisely what we're taught, isn't it? But let's ask ourselves, whose wealth, whose table is this? Are we meant to see beauty here or, perhaps, the undercurrent of a fragile American dream? Editor: That’s a completely different way to look at it. Thank you; I definitely learned something new today. Curator: And I’m so glad that we were able to think critically about this image today.