Anton BRUEHL
Australia 1900 – United States of America 1982
United States from 1919

not titled [Pears] 1926
gelatin silver photograph
Recto, signed in pencil on support, lower right, 'Anton Bruehl'.
image 42.2 (h) x 34.8 (w) cm
Gift of American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia, Inc., New York, NY, USA, made possible with the generous support of Anton Bruehl Jr, 2006.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 2006.159

This still life of pears is Bruehl’s first ‘signature’ style modernist work showing his skill with still life arrangements and lighting. Though the image has the lingering, sombre mood and soft inner glow of Pictorialism, it looks towards the new language of Modernism with its strong geometric form and sharpness of focus. At the White School, the students often learnt the elements of design by composing still life studies and photographing them.