1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board special basket short sides are 9 13/16"

short sides are 9 13/16"

and charcoal

and with the crackling to the black painted background around his head reading a bit like a halo of static electricity

And happily

and it is 8 3/8" between that ledge and the bottom of the crossbar above

1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board special basket short sides are 9 13/16"Ive been drawn like a magnet lately to paintings with solid black grounds so satisfyingly graphic, and amplifying the sense of significance and symbolic weight to the subjects portrayed. And I love any sort of troupe loeil, especially with books in it! This one appears to have been painted as a present, marking the occasion of the recipients birthday on an April 8. 1883. Curiously, the painted text on that page of the book seems first to have read