Copy of Murillo, Little Fruit Seller

Copy of Bartolome Estaban Murillo, Little Fruit Seller, original 1670-75, oil on canvas.

This copy of an original work by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, which is located at the Alte Pinakothek Museum in Munich, Germany. The painting was introduced into the collection at the Elston Homestead by the Mills family of Isaac Elston II’s wife, Sarah. How the Mills acquired the painting is unclear but it is most likely a copy done by an American art student. During the 19^th century, artists from America would aspire to attend art academies in Europe, and many Midwestern artists did attend. In the book titled The Passage, M.F. Krause describes how novice artists would spend their days in museums copying the paintings of a famous historical artist as a major part of their training. It was common for those artists’ education to be funded by patrons, but as a way of repaying their debts, they would send some of their copies back to these patrons back in the United States. This tradition is likely the source of this painting.

The original painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo at the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany. Wikiart.org

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Bibliography

Tyrone Evans