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Still Life with Currency

A work made of oil on canvas.

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  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1895

Artist:

Charles Alfred Meurer
American, born Germany, 1865–1955

About this artwork

Born in Germany and raised in Ohio, Charles Alfred Meurer began painting hyperrealistic, or trompe l’oeil, compositions like Still Life with Currency after seeing examples of the illusionistic genre by fellow American artist William Michael Harnett in the 1880s. Meurer exactingly rendered a set of metal, wax, and paper objects against a wooden panel, complete with graining, gouges, and a prominent splinter that secures a newspaper fragment. Legible in the clipping is the phrase “Counterfeiters Caught,” a humorous comment on the artist’s own skills of verisimilitude.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Charles Alfred Meurer

Title

Still Life with Currency

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1895

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

25.4 × 55.9 cm (10 × 22 in.)

Credit Line

Estate of Frederick W. Renshaw

Reference Number

2001.183

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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