Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Robert Vernon
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-lance-321" aria-label="More by George Lance" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">George Lance</a>
Fruit Summer Gift
Presented by Robert Vernon 1847
basket
food and drink
fruit, apple
fruit, grape
fruit, melon
fruit, pineapple
objects
plants and flowers
seasons
summer
vessels and containers
vine
<p>The collector Robert Vernon had bought his first Lance still life as early as 1826. He commissioned this work as part of the collection of British contemporary art which he gave to the nation in 1847. Lance exhibited the finished picture at the British Institution in 1848, with a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: 'The Fruit to this great Feast', using it as a witty allusion to the fact that his painting was a late addition to the feast of British art with which Vernon had enriched the nation. The esteem accorded to Lance gave still life painting a status it had never before achieved in this country.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
Fruit (‘The Summer Gift’)
support: 711 × 914 mm
frame: 980 × 1181 × 97 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999978" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Robert Vernon</a> 1847
<p>The collector Robert Vernon had bought his first Lance <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still life</span></a> as early as 1826. He commissioned this work as part of the collection of British contemporary art which he gave to the nation in 1847. Lance exhibited the finished picture at the British Institution in 1848, with a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: 'The Fruit to this great Feast', using it as a witty allusion to the fact that his <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was a late addition to the feast of British art with which Vernon had enriched the nation. The esteem accorded to Lance gave still life painting a status it had never before achieved in this country.</p>
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2004-09-03T00:00:00
display-caption
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basket food and drink fruit, apple fruit, grape fruit, melon fruit, pineapple objects plants and flowers seasons summer vessels and containers vine