In "Time and Eternity,” circa 1889–90, everyday objects evoke themes of time passing and the risks people take with their lives. The clipping refers to orator Robert G. Ingersoll, who was tried for blasphemy because of his unorthodox views on the Bible and slavery. Haberle's message: lead a virtuous life, because you never know what fate has in store for you. New Britain Museum of American Art.
:Of the three major American trompe l'oeil painters of the Nineteenth Century, William M. Harnett (1848–1892), John F. Peto (1854–1907) and John Haberle (1856–1933), the least well known — and in many ways, the most interesting — is Haberle. All three combined masterful technique with images of objects of everyday life to create precise, illusionistic paintings of such astonishing detail and accuracy that the items represented look real.
They carried on a tradition dating back to the Fifteenth Century, which was especially popular in Seventeenth Century Dutch painting. In the United States, the realist strain was notably continued by Charles Willson Peale's "Staircase Group" of 1795 and son Raphaelle in "After the Bath," circa 1822. These Philadelphia painters set an example for Harnett and Peto, both from the City of Brotherly Love.
Harnett is recognized for the precision of his compositions, Peto for his inspired use of color and Haberle, from New Haven, Conn., for his inventiveness and sense of humor. As art historian Alfred Frankenstein put it years ago, "Peto is moved by the pathos of used-up things. Haberle is wry and wacky, full of bravado, self-congratulating virtuosity and sly flamboyance. [His work] is poles away from Harnett's sumptuosity, careful balances and well-modeled volumes, and is equally far from Peto's sensitivity in matters of tone and hue."
Haberle, trained as an engraver, is increasingly regarded as the most technically impressive of the three, as well as for a wit that sets him apart from his fellow still life artists. Haberle, for example, was well known for sly, trompe l'oeil depictions of counterfeit bills and of a newspaper article about a master forger sought by law enforcement authorities.
As his eyesight worsened, Haberle created a series, including "Torn-in-Transit,” 1890–95, in which he framed a broadly painted landscape with scraps of wrapping paper, string and labels in the fool-the-eye manner. By mixing styles, he put less strain on his eyes, while retaining enough trompe l'oeil details to appeal to his fans. Brandywine River Museum.
Art historian Milton W. Brown concluded that Haberle's "art lacks the serious grandeur of Harnett and the sensitive lyricism of Peto, but it offers a waggish imagination."
Informed, sophisticated, original, gifted and funny, Haberle often invoked complex, ingenious and entertaining aspects of contemporary society during his abbreviated but brilliant career.
All this makes particularly welcome the exhibition "John Haberle: American Master of Illusion," on view at the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) through March 11. Organized by the museum with guest curator and longtime Haberle authority Gertrude Grace Sill, who wrote the informative catalog, the show comprises about 20 paintings and drawings on loan from museums across the country. Together, they constitute the first comprehensive study devoted to Haberle.
"Haberle's work is astonishing in its intensity and in the startling clarity of his vision," writes NBMAA director Douglas K.S. Hyland. "At first glance, his paintings, unlike those of Harnett and Peto, strike the viewer as lacking in three-dimensional depth, yet the immediacy of this effect only serves to heighten the viewer's perception." Observes curator Sill, "While Harnett's compositions demanded the viewer's careful attention, Haberle's were unique in their personal, witty details, often carefully hidden and demanding intense scrutiny."
Haberle was born in New Haven to German immigrant parents; his father was a tailor with a shop on the Green near the Taft Hotel. His son later recalled that "In those days of the Yale fence and the Yale rushes, my father was kept busy repairing clothing ripped by these rushes, and I have been told by boss tailors that he could do the mending so well that it could hardly be found after it was done."
Young Haberle, nicknamed "Happy," left school at 14 to apprentice with local printer, engraver and lithographer Punderson and Crisland; over the course of four years he learned the disciplined hand-and-eye coordination required for detailed representations.
Starting in 1880 he worked for years for famed Yale University paleontologist Otheniel Charles Marsh, founder of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History. Haberle painted scenery, illustrated publications, prepared exhibitions and did odd jobs.
