Claude Raguet Hirst NY Watercolor Still Life Painting, circa 1890, a rare watercolor still of life signed Claude Raguet Hirst NY lower right, titled "An Old Edition", housed in the original period gilt wood frame with an Braus Galleries paper label on the verso. By great woman artist Claude Raquet Hirst (1855-1942) born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Claude Hirst specialized in small still-life paintings, usually of old booksand pipes in the trompe l'oeil style. She was unique as a trompe l'oeil painter in that she was the first woman of note to paint in this style and also because she preferred watercolor when other Trompe painters were using oil. Of her it was said that "she alternated between oil and watercolor with such facility that one critic noted 'it is difficult to distinguish the oils from the watercolors, so perfect is the execution in both. She especially delighted in painting crisp-looking pages and worn-leather bindings of old books, which appealed to viewers following the vogue of antique book collecting until the late 1880s, she painted still lives of flowers and fruit, but changed with the influence of William Harnett, noted Trompe still life painter, who set up a studio next to hers in a New York City building at 30 east 14th street. She adopted his masculine subjects such as pipes and tobacco. This work would make an impressive gift or addition to any fine American Fine Art Collection. - SIZE: 8" x 10 1/2" (artwork) / 13 1/8" x 15 3/8" (frame). - CONDITION: Excellent.

Excellent. See description for eventual details.