Seventeenth-Century Interior

Chicagoan Charles Gifford Dyer studied painting in Paris and Munich. The objects depicted here, such as the Chinese blue-and-white vase and Oushak Turkish lotto rug, were likely collected during his extensive travels and represent the tastes of a worldly, wealthy man. The composition recalls 17th-century Dutch still lifes in its focus on surfaces, textures, and illusionism. Similarly, it evokes the fleetingness of life by juxtaposing items that quickly decay, such as fruit and flowers, with the enduring arts of literature and music.