The Irish Question

1880s

De Scott Evans
American, 1847–1898

A seemingly uncomplicated representation of two potatoes suspended by a string against a wood panel, The Irish Question is an unusual and striking trompe l’oeil painting that raises numerous questions. The title may refer to the troubled status of the Irish in the late 19th century; the hanging potatoes inflect this allusion with either ominous overtones or a dark sense of humor. Illusionistic paintings such as The Irish Question offer an enjoyable form of visual deception, and the pseudonymous signature “S.S. David” suggests that De Scott Evans relished the opportunity to puzzle his viewers on many levels.

Status: On View, Gallery 173
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: De Scott Evans
Title: The Irish Question
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.: Made 1880–1889
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed "S.S. David" at lower left
Dimensions: 30.5 × 25.4 cm (12 × 10 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Carol W. Wardlaw and Jill Burnside Zeno; Roger and J. Peter McCormick Endowment Fund
Reference Number: 2004.3
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/181777/manifest.json

Judith A. Barter, “True to the Senses and False in Its Essence: Still–Life and Trompe l’Oeil Painting in Victorian America,” Museum Studies 31, no. 1 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2005): 39 (ill.).
Judith Barter et al., Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), 146–48, 223, cat. 15, fig. 7 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, Nov. 10, 2013–Jan. 27, 2014, cat. 15; Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Feb. 22–May 18, 2014.

Shannon’s FIne Art Auctioneers, Milford, CT, April 2001, lot 53. Christie’s, New York; purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago at auction, December 4, 2003, lot 49.

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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.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.