Jefferson David Chalfant (November 6, 1856 – February 3, 1931) was an American painter who is remembered mostly for his trompe-l'œilstill life paintings.[1]
Bouguereau's Atelier – Chalfant painted himself into the picture; he is the figure in the lower right.Violin and Bow (1889)
Chalfant was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but moved in young adulthood to Wilmington, Delaware, where he would spend the rest of his life. Employed by a commercial firm as a painter of parlor car interiors, he began his activity as a fine artist in the early 1880s. Although he had no formal training, he quickly developed a fine technique. His early works are mostly still-life and landscape paintings, which sold well to private collectors.[2]
His still lifes are painted in the illusionistic trompe-l'œil (literally, "fool the eye") manner popularized in the late nineteenth century by William Michael Harnett. Harnett inspired many followers, the best known being John F. Peto, but few, if any, had Chalfant's technical finesse. Often, Chalfant's compositions closely follow prototypes by Harnett, but Chalfant usually simplifies, eliminating secondary objects and details.[4] An example is his Violin and Bow (1889) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET).[5]
Although he was only slightly younger than Harnett and Peto, he outlived both of them by many years, and continued painting until 1927, when he had a stroke. He died in Wilmington in 1931.
^Chalfant, Jefferson D. "Violin and Bow". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
^"Cubism and the Trompe l'Oeil Tradition". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
^James, Caryn. "Trompe l'oeil and the images that fool the mind". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
^Chalfant, Jefferson D. "Which is Which?". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
^Chalfant, Jefferson D. "Brandywine Works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art". The Brandywine Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jefferson David Chalfant.
American paintings & historical prints from the Middendorf collection, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Chalfant (no. 48–49)
Jefferson D. Chalfant holdings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
This article about a painter from the United States born in the 1850s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
jefferson, david, chalfant, november, 1856, february, 1931, american, painter, remembered, mostly, trompe, œil, still, life, paintings, bouguereau, atelier, chalfant, painted, himself, into, picture, figure, lower, right, violin, 1889, contents, biography, bib. Jefferson David Chalfant November 6 1856 February 3 1931 was an American painter who is remembered mostly for his trompe l œil still life paintings 1 Bouguereau s Atelier Chalfant painted himself into the picture he is the figure in the lower right Violin and Bow 1889 Contents 1 Biography 2 Bibliography 3 References 4 External linksBiography editChalfant was born in Chester County Pennsylvania but moved in young adulthood to Wilmington Delaware where he would spend the rest of his life Employed by a commercial firm as a painter of parlor car interiors he began his activity as a fine artist in the early 1880s Although he had no formal training he quickly developed a fine technique His early works are mostly still life and landscape paintings which sold well to private collectors 2 Chalfant exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts the National Academy of Design and elsewhere In 1890 he was able to travel to Paris for two years where he studied figure painting under Adolphe William Bouguereau and Jules Joseph Lefebvre This served him well during a career in which he painted genre portraits and other subjects It s his still lifes which may be his signal achievement 3 nbsp Smiling boy 1886 nbsp The Visiting Champion c 1895 His still lifes are painted in the illusionistic trompe l œil literally fool the eye manner popularized in the late nineteenth century by William Michael Harnett Harnett inspired many followers the best known being John F Peto but few if any had Chalfant s technical finesse Often Chalfant s compositions closely follow prototypes by Harnett but Chalfant usually simplifies eliminating secondary objects and details 4 An example is his Violin and Bow 1889 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art MET 5 Although he was only slightly younger than Harnett and Peto he outlived both of them by many years and continued painting until 1927 when he had a stroke He died in Wilmington in 1931 nbsp The ConnoisseurA 2022 exhibition at the MET 6 draws comparisons between the work of Chalfant Harnet as well as European trompe l œil painters such as Samuel van Hoogstraten Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts Jean Etienne Liotard and Luis Melendez and the work of Georges Braque Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso 7 One example is Chalafant s Which is Which a highly realistic oil painting of a postage stamp with collage elements including an actual postage stamp and a fictitious printed newspaper clipping hints at Cubism as well as foreshadowing the use of faux collage and fake news 8 9 Bibliography editFrankenstein Alfred 1970 The Reality of Appearance Greenwich New York Graphic Society ISBN 0 8212 0357 6 Wilmerding John 1983 Important Information Inside New York Harper amp Row ISBN 0 06 438941 3References edit Oxford Index American Dictionary Online Benezit Dictionary of Artists Frankenstein 1970 p 148 Chalfant Jefferson D Violin and Bow The Metropolitan Museum of Art Retrieved 2022 11 27 Cubism and the Trompe l Oeil Tradition The Metropolitan Museum of Art Retrieved 2022 11 27 James Caryn Trompe l oeil and the images that fool the mind www bbc com Retrieved 2022 11 27 Chalfant Jefferson D Which is Which The Metropolitan Museum of Art Retrieved 2022 11 29 Chalfant Jefferson D Brandywine Works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art The Brandywine Museum of Art Retrieved 2022 11 29 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jefferson David Chalfant American paintings amp historical prints from the Middendorf collection an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art fully available online as PDF which contains material on Chalfant no 48 49 Jefferson D Chalfant holdings The Metropolitan Museum of Art nbsp This article about a painter from the United States born in the 1850s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jefferson David Chalfant amp oldid 1144068764, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
