William Harnett′s Curious Objects – Still–Life Painting after the American Civil War

"In Nika Elder's absorbing account, the great American still-life painter William Harnett grasped at objects like a drowning man at whatever floats nearby. In the wake of the Civil War, an artist wrongly characterized as a con man set out on a mission to find enduring human values. If it proved impossible, his clear-eyed investigation of last moments is all the more grave and impressive. Harnett's failure is Elder's triumph."--Alexander Nemerov, Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Stanford University