Sea life, fruits and flowers, and boys wear skirts until they are six years old
Art has long been a way for humans to share and appreciate knowledge about the ecosystems around them. In fact, the painting, created in the 50s of the 19th century, was one of the first undersea illustrations in the United States, most likely in collaboration with an artist and a scientist.
Christian Schussele was the first professor of drawing painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He primarily creates history paintings and portraits, but as this watercolor demonstrates, his subjects occasionally reflect Philadelphia's scientific traditions. The photograph of this painting was reproduced in a lithograph in an album called Ocean Life published in Philadelphia in 1859.
James S. James M. Sommerville, probably the designer of the watercolor, was an internist and amateur naturalist, member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, artist and trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy. He collected specimens, wrote album copy, and printed drawings.
Christian Schüssel (USA, born in France, 1824–1879), painter. James Somerville (1825–1899), painter. Life at Sea, predates 1859. United States. Watercolor, gouache, graphite, gum arabic, beige cloth paper.
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This is one of the most intense still lifes by Orsola Maddalena Cacci, who runs the painting studio founded by her father, who is also her painting teacher. The studio funded a monastery in Moncavo, Italy.
Orsola Maddalena Caccia (Italy, 1596-1676). Fruit and Flowers, circa 1630.
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Until about a hundred years ago, boys usually wore skirts until they were five or six years old.
Madame Georges Charpentier (Marguérite-Louise Lemonnier, real name Marguerite-Louise Lemonnier, 1848–1904) with her children, Georgette-Berthe (1872–1945) and Paul-Émile-Charles (1875– 1895). Auguste Renoir, France, 1841–1919, 1878. Oil on canvas. 601⁄2 x 747⁄8 inches (153.7 x 190.2 cm). Catherine Lorerad Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1907 (07.122)
