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For Sunday's Dinner
Art Institute of Chicago
Museum

For Sunday's Dinner

1888
William Michael Harnett visual detail
ArtistWilliam Michael Harnett
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Market Intelligence

Observed sale facts, comparable evidence, artist index history and modeled research remain separate.

Public evidence
Last known price $20,000 Dealer sale · Jun 30, 1958
-33.3% vs previous observed sale
Matched price history · normalized USD · Foundry provisional
1958 · $30,0001958 · $20,000
$30K1958
$20K1958
Last known price$20,0002 matched observed sales
Observed median$25,000
Observed sales2
Artist index—
1958-06-30Dealer sale$20,000.00
1958-06-02Dealer purchase$30,000.00
Artist index unavailableInsufficient qualifying evidence; no synthetic curve is published.Artist-level context is not an artwork valuation.

Comparable Sales

Same-artist public sales ranked by medium, creation year, dimensions and sale recency.

Evidence ranked
No public-rights comparable sales meet the current evidence criteria. RELICT does not fill the table with research-only or licensed-only facts.

Provenance

Public
John Hedges, Philadelphia, (not documented). Joann Kolodny, Baltimore, by 1953. L. Manuel Hendler, Baltimore

John Hedges, Philadelphia, (not documented). Joann Kolodny, Baltimore, by 1953. L. Manuel Hendler, B...

Baltimore Museum of Art, from 1957 to 1958

Baltimore Museum of Art, from 1957 to 1958

M. Knoedler and Company, New York City, 1958

M. Knoedler and Company, New York City, 1958

sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1958.

sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1958.

Source provenance text

John Hedges, Philadelphia, (not documented). Joann Kolodny, Baltimore, by 1953. L. Manuel Hendler, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, from 1957 to 1958; M. Knoedler and Company, New York City, 1958; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1958.

Art Institute of Chicagoconfidence 100%

Exhibitions

Public
Source exhibition text

New York, National Academy of Design, Seventh Autumn Exhibition, Nov. 19–Dec. 15, 1888, cat. 44. Phliadelphia, Wanamaker's Department Store, late 1888/early 1889. Art Institute of Chicago, Two Centuries of American Art, 1750-1950, Oct. 1, 1959–Jan. 10, 1960, no cat. [downloadable checklist available]. La Jolla Museum of Art, The Reminiscent Object, Paintings by William Michael Harnett, John Frederick Peto, and John Haberle, July 11–Sept. 19, 1965, cat. 21; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Sept. 28–Oct. 31, 1965. Philadelphia, Peale Galleries of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Two Illusionist Painters, William Michael Harnett and John Frederick Peto, Mar. 11–Apr. 17, 1966, cat. 2. New York City, Coe Kerr Gallery, One Hundred–Fifty Years of American Still–Life Painting, Apr. 27–May 16, 1970, cat. 32. Sacramento, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Munich and American Realism in the Nineteenth Century, Oct. 28–Dec. 10, 1970, cat. 37. Cincinnati Art Museum, Munich & American Realism in the 19th Century, Apr. 20–May 28, 1978; Milwaukee Art Center, July 13–Aug. 27, 1978; Sacramento, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Oct. 28–Dec. 10, 1978. New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, William H. Harnett, Mar. 16–June 14, 1992; Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum, July 17–Oct. 18, 1992, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Nov. 14, 1992–Feb. 14, 1993, Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, Mar. 14–June 13, 1993 (New York only). Art Institute of Chicago, Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, Nov. 10, 2013–Jan. 27, 2014, cat. 23; Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Feb. 22–May 18, 2014.

Art Institute of Chicagoconfidence 100%
Related public works

Visual neighbours

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Sourced Overview Evidence

<p>Still-life painter William Michael Harnett excelled at trompe l’oeil, painting that fools the eye, through realistic depiction. In <em>For Sunday’s Dinner</em>, a chicken hangs in front of a painted door with its throat cut and most of its feathers plucked; a few remaining downy spots stand out against the puckered, pimpled flesh. The metal door hinges, on the right side of the canvas, frame the chicken and echo its form. The painting’s title and the rough, blemished surface of the door suggest a country dinner, the homey meal evoking nostalgia for a simpler past.</p>

Art Institute of Chicagoconfidence 100%

Evidence state

2 observed sales · 0 comparable sales · 4 structured provenance events · 10 structured exhibitions.

Short DescriptionProvenance TextExhibition HistoryCredit LinePlace Of Origin