William Harnett’s Curious Objects

"Bold and innovative, Nika Elder's book does not only challenge how historians of American art think about the motivations for and meanings of still-life painting. It also changes our understanding of the relationship between fine art, social politics, and popular culture in the immediate wake of the US Civil War."--Tanya Sheehan, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Art, Colby College "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