William Harnett (American, born Ireland, 1848(?)-1892) Music and Literature, 1878 Oil on canvas, 24 x 32 1/8" Gift of Seymour H. Knox, 1941

If you collected a bunch of objects from your room and placed them in a pile on a table, what could someone looking at the pile tell about you? Pretend you are visiting a house two hundred years ago, and you are asked to wait in a small room where you find these objects sitting on a desk. What would you think about the person who owns the house?

Look more carefully at William Harnett's painting. Is this just someone's messy table? Or did Mr. Harnett arrange all of these objects this way on purpose? Do you see anything that doesn't look like it's going to stay in place?

This painting tells us a few things about life in the past. For example, before there was gas lighting or electricity, how did people see at night? Before there were telephones, telegraphs, FAX machines, or email, how did people keep in touch with one another? The painting is called Music and Literature, and speaks to us about something that is as true today as it was in the past--the fact that music and books are two very important parts of our society. Can you think of a few reasons why that's true?

William Harnett was known in his lifetime as an expert at painting textures (how the surface of something feels--hard, soft, fuzzy, etc.). How many different textures has he represented in Music and Literature?