Alberta Binford McCloskey Original California Still Life Tissue Paper Wrapped Tangerine Oranges Lady Apples Antique American Oil Painting

William McCloskey and Alberta Binford McCloskey were a husband and wife known for both their work and their collaborative work. William McCloskey attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and studied with Thomas Eakins (1844–1916). Alberta Binford McCloskey was essentially self-taught, yet considered by some to be the superior artist of the two. William and Alberta met while both were working as artists in Denver, and they married in 1883. For the next fifteen years, the couple traveled and painted together extensively. They moved to Los Angeles in 1884 and attracted business by hosting open-house parties for prominent people and local artists. Alberta focused her work on flower still life, and William focused his on portraiture.  

The struggle of Alberta Binford McCloskey has particular relevance today. She was a talented woman, seeking recognition in a male-dominated late nineteenth-century art world.  
As the 1980s turned into the 1990s, auction prices fetched for William's still lifes of oranges soared into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the same time, the Bowers Museum decided to share with the public the rich resource of paintings that had been preserved in its storerooms for many years. Included in this was the largest holding of McCloskey paintings in the world. The result was an exhibit of the restored works and this first-ever biography of the couple. The artists turn out to be the best-kept secret of the fin-de-siècle New York art world, and the most talented of the early painters of Southern California.

The subject for which William McCloskey is most readily known is the tissue paper-wrapped oranges. William's first known examples of orange still lifes are: Lady Apples, and Tangerine Oranges and Tangerine Oranges, which he exhibited in spring 1888 at the National Academy of Design. However: both William and Alberta went on to paint the subject with tissue paper as is shown by Alberta's Untitled (Oranges in Tissue with Vase) (Bowers Museum 74.22.2) 1889, and William's Wrapped Oranges. 1889, (sold Sotheby's. New York, 5-30-85)

Both McCloskeys produced a similar-looking product, well-lit fruit in a triangular arrangement, resting on a highly-reflective mahogany tabletop, and backed by a darkly obscure plush or velvet drape. Many of the works have an extended horizontal format. Sometimes a basket or a clear glass bowl is included, usually with the fruit spilling out of it in the "cornucopia of plenty" concept. Each work known to us today is a unique arrangement with varying types of oranges (Florida, Catania, Mandarin, and pineapple oranges), quantity, numbers wrapped, unwrapped, and partially wrapped, numbers peeled or with sections pulled apart, and the inclusion of subsidiary objects such as jugs and vases. The frequency of this theme for the artists must prove it was a popular seller, and indeed the uniqueness of the subject, the striking color combination of oranges against white paper and Prussian blue drape, as well as the trompe l'oeil gimmick of crinkled tissue, must have been very appealing. 

Since the couple blossomed into still life while in New York, they must have recognized it as a marketable theme well suited for their particular talents; they must have analyzed the work of other still-life artists to see what was popular, and how to make themselves unique. William couldn't have grown up in Philadelphia without having known the still-life paintings of the Peales, who were an institution in the city. Most still-life artists distinguished themselves by specializing in the recreating of a particular unique object. While California artists never seemed to show much interest in rendering types of paper (sheet music, pages of books, money, envelopes, wrapping paper), as did East Coast artists; the McCloskeys are unique in their painting of tissue paper. 
Signed by the artist, lower center, with the date '32
Subject: Tissue Paper Wrapped Tangerine Orange; surrounded by Lady Apples and Tangerine Oranges on Highly Polished Marble and Carved Mahogany Table
Vintage Frame; (much newer than painting)- slight darker colored discoloration on gold velvet, as shown.
Remnants of Artist's Label Previously Attached to Reverse of Wooden Stretcher Bars
Good Condition; (light crease/hairline crack along top, as shown). Please email for up-close images and a full condition report). 
Signed lower middle; light impression stamp, to right
Approximately 11"X14" Without Frame
Approximately 16"X19", In Frame

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