Claude Raguet Hirst
1855- 1942)
 

Claude Raguet Hirst was an American painter of still lifes. She was the only woman of her era to gain acclaim using the trompe-l'œil ("fool the eye") technique.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Raguet_Hirst

A Gentleman’s Table
After 1890
Oil on canvas
45.7 x 81.3 cm
NMWA, National Museum of Women in the Arts
https://nmwa.org/art/collection/gentlemans-table/

 

Commissioned for a Chicago men’s club, Claude Raguet Hirst’s A Gentleman’s Table subtly critiques masculine pastimes while still appealing to male patrons. The work’s hyperrealistic style exemplifies a traditional technique called trompe l’oeil, French for “deceives the eye.” At the time, trompe l’oeil works were typically painted by and for men. Hirst claimed the method as her own and refashioned it with messages appealing to female viewers. Her skill rendering tight contours, tonal values, reflections, and textures resulted in successful illusionistic images.