William Harnett

American · 1848–1892 · Painter

William Michael Harnett was an American painter known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes of ordinary objects. (Wikipedia)

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Still Life with BooksBonhams · Nov 2025$229,100≈ £174,366≈ €197,670Sign up to see
Still Life with Quill and PipeBonhams · May 2024$64,000≈ £51,041≈ €59,713Sign up to see
Still Life with Jug, Bread and NewspaperBrunk Auctions · Mar 2020$32,000≈ £26,161≈ €29,152Sign up to see

William Harnett’s highest prices recorded at auction, ranked in US dollars at each sale-date exchange rate and shown in the currency of the sale (with the buyer’s premium where the house publishes it).

William Michael Harnett was an American painter known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes of ordinary objects.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born 1848, ClonakiltyDied 1892, New York CityOccupation PainterWikidata Q935186 ↗ULAN 500032464 ↗Museum works 24

Also known as Harnett, prof. harnett, w.m. harnett, william m. harnett, William Michael Harnett

Works in museum collections

Open-access images (public domain, CC0 or CC BY) from museum collections, each shown with its credit line and licence.

William Harnett, My Gems — **My Gems**1888 · oil on wood
National Gallery of Art, Washington ↗
CC0 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Avalon Foundation — Open Acc…

William Harnett, The Old Violin — **The Old Violin**1886 · oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington ↗
CC0 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Mellon Scai…

William Harnett, Plucked Clean — **Plucked Clean**1882 · oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington ↗
CC0 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Wi…

William Harnett, Still Life—Violin and Music — **Still Life—Violin and Music**1888 · Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe F…

William Harnett, The Artist's Letter Rack — **The Artist's Letter Rack**1879 · Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1966 — Open Access (CC0)

William Harnett, The Banker's Table — **The Banker's Table**1877 · Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Elihu Root Jr. Gift, 1956 — Open Ac…

William Harnett, Still Life — **Still Life**1888 · Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Susan Vanderpoel Clark, 1967 — Ope…

William Harnett, New York Daily News — **New York Daily News**1888 · Oil on wood
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William L. and Charlotte B. McKim, 19…

William Harnett, A Sprig of Plums — **A Sprig of Plums**1873 · charcoal and black chalk with stumping and scratching out on cream wove paper
National Gallery of Art, Washington ↗
CC0 · National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon —…

William Harnett, Munich Still Life — **Munich Still Life**1882
Dallas Museum of Art ↗
Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons (public domain) — Dallas Museum of Art

William Harnett, For Sunday's Dinner — **For Sunday's Dinner**1888 · Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago ↗
CC0 · Art Institute of Chicago, Wilson L. Mead Fund — public domain (CC0)

William Harnett, Just Dessert — **Just Dessert**1891 · Oil on canvas
Art Institute of Chicago ↗
CC0 · Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art Collection — public domain …

William Harnett, Memento Mori, "To This Favour" — **Memento Mori, "To This Favour"**1879 · oil on canvas
Cleveland Museum of Art ↗
CC0 · Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund — Open Access (…

William Harnett, Christmas Stockings Hanging Over the Fireplace — **Christmas Stockings Hanging Over the Fireplace**n.d. · Graphite on tan wove paper
Art Institute of Chicago ↗
CC0 · Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Frederick W. Renshaw — public domain (CC0)

William Harnett, Still Life Sketch — **Still Life Sketch**n.d. · Graphite and pen and brown ink on cream laid paper
Art Institute of Chicago ↗
CC0 · Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Frederick W. Renshaw — public domain (CC0)

William Harnett, Sketch of Two Books — **Sketch of Two Books**n.d. · Graphite, with smudging on tan wove paper
Art Institute of Chicago ↗
CC0 · Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Frederick W. Renshaw — public domain (CC0)

Artist record compiled from: Wikidata (CC0), Getty ULAN (ODC-By), National Gallery of Art open data (CC0), Art Institute of Chicago API (CC0), Smithsonian Open Access (CC0). See data sources & attribution.

Record prices

Works in museum collections

Related artists — American, born 1823–1873