Wrapped Oranges

William J. McCloskey (1859-1941)
Wrapped Oranges, 1889
Oil on canvas
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Acquisition in memory of Katrine Deakins, Trustee, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 1961-1985
1985.251

Part of McCloskey’s training at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts involved sharpening his skills at conveying form, light, and texture by creating still lifes. His interest in painting fruit, particularly oranges, continued well beyond his initial studies. Depicting citrus fruits in all their various guises—from wrapped in the crinkled protective paper that aided in their safe transport to unwrapped, peeled, with juicy insides on display—showed his painterly virtuosity. This artwork contains a complex range of textures seen in the folds of the paper, the rough skin of the fruit, and the highly polished table that reflects everything resting on its surface.