More than three dozen pears clustered densely on leafy branches against a vivid blue sky fill this long, horizontal painting. Most of the pears are golden yellow and touched with blush pink on one side. Pieces of fruit hanging closer to the corners of the composition are darker green. The long leaves have smooth edges that come to points at both ends. Three wasps dig into a pear that looks partially devoured near the bottom center of the composition, and some of the leaves in that area have brown spots or holes. The artist signed the painting near the lower left corner, “J. Decker.”

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Ripening Pears

painter Joseph Decker (American, 1853 - 1924)

c. 1884/1885

Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Painting
Dimensions: overall: 30.5 x 61 cm (12 x 24 in.) ; framed: 53.34 x 83.19 x 6.99 cm (21 x 32 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
Culture: American
Museum: National Gallery of Art, CAB
Credit line: Gift of Ann and Mark Kington/The Kington Foundation and the Avalon Fund
Rights: Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Adult profiles and older: its museum's description or title mentions violence, death or gore. How works are placed

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