{"data":{"id":100829,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/100829","is_boosted":true,"title":"Magnolias on Light Blue Velvet Cloth","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhCAAFAPUAACAbFSUdFiAcGCQgGTIrHDkxHiEmICQrJyQuJDkvIC4xICwxJCYwKikwKjg8LS86M0E3JEY8JElNJ0pFLUhJKFBDK1dMLlxPMUxTPFdSMVtTNmZYNUBKQkNQQF1XQ2RhQHl\/X4F\/W4CAU4mKYJSScaCfd7KuitTQpwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAIAAUAAAYlwM2lAkkEBICJJZKheAgDhsRUGp00hUcHJAqRPpgGB+FQGBaHIAA7","width":10004,"height":6148,"alt_text":"Still life of sensuously detailed painting of four white magnolias lying on blue velvet cloth."},"main_reference_number":"1983.791","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1885,"date_end":1895,"date_display":"1885\u201395","date_qualifier_title":"c.","date_qualifier_id":60,"artist_display":"Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819\u20131904)","place_of_origin":"Florida","description":"<p>This sensuous and decorative image dates from the later part of Martin Johnson Heade\u2019s long, varied, and peripatetic career. Traveling through much of the United States, to England and continental Europe, and (three different times) to Brazil, he produced work ranging from pristine views of East Coast salt marshes and lush tropical landscapes to pictures of exotic hummingbirds and orchids. At the age of sixty-four, Heade settled in Saint Augustine, Florida. There he began painting detailed arrangements of native flowers, including the Cherokee rose, orange blossom, and magnolia. Stretched out like an odalisque on blue velvet cloth, the curvaceous magnolia was meticulously rendered in pale, subtle hues and illuminated by a light so sharp that the image evokes the hyperintensity of a dream. The warm, steamy atmosphere is almost palpable, as is the blossom\u2019s heady, pungent scent. The Art Institute\u2019s <em>Magnolias<\/em> is one of a number of compositions by the artist featuring this dramatic yet delicate white flower.<\/p>\n","short_description":"This painting dates from the later part of Martin Johnson Heade\u2019s long, varied, and peripatetic career. After traveling through the United States, to England and continental Europe, and three different times to Brazil, Heade settled in Saint Augustine, Florida, at the age of 64. There he began painting detailed arrangements of native flowers, including the Cherokee rose, orange blossom, and, as in this work, magnolia.","dimensions":"38.6 \u00d7 61.8 cm (15 1\/4 \u00d7 24 3\/8 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":61,"height":38,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Signed, lower right: \"M. J. Heade\"","credit_line":"Purchased with funds provided by Gloria and Richard Manney; Harold L. Stuart Endowment Fund","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., The Life and Works of Martin Johnson Heade (Yale University Press, 1975), p. 276, no. 331.\n\nA Record of Sharing (Art Institute of Chicago, 1984), p. 24 (ill.).\n\nThe Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report, 1983\u20131984, (Art Institute of Chicago, 1984), p. 9, fig. 8.\n\nMaster Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago (Little, Brown, and Company, 1988), p. 92 (ill.).\n\nJudith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998).\n\nJudith A. Barter, \"True to the Senses and False in Its Essence: Still\u2013Life and Trompe l'Oeil Painting in Victorian America,\" Museum Studies 31, 1 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2005) p. 38 (ill.).\n\nPaintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the Collection, (Art Institute of Chicago\/Yale University Press, 2017) p. 88.","exhibition_history":"New York City, M. Knoedler and Company, The American Vision, Paintings 1825\u20131875, Oct. 8\u2013Nov. 2, 1968, cat. 43.","provenance_text":"Private collection, Chestnut Hill, Penn., by 1975; Spanierman Gallery, New York Cit, 1983; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1983.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":21,"fiscal_year":1984,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":28.5248,"color":{"h":59,"l":40,"s":55,"percentage":0.0016030265140585425,"population":7},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of the Americas","department_id":"PC-3","artist_id":31435,"artist_title":"Martin Johnson Heade","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[31435],"artist_titles":["Martin Johnson Heade"],"category_ids":["PC-612","PC-831","PC-3"],"category_titles":["The City in Art","Essentials","Arts of the Americas"],"term_titles":["painting","oil paint (paint)","still life","oil painting","organic material","american arts","velvet","cloth","fabric","green (color)","white (color)","flowers","painting (image making)"],"style_id":null,"style_title":null,"alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":[],"style_titles":[],"classification_id":"TM-9","classification_title":"painting","alt_classification_ids":["TM-2191"],"classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-2191"],"classification_titles":["painting","american arts"],"subject_id":"TM-8937","alt_subject_ids":["TM-12535","TM-12534","TM-12533","TM-11849","TM-11841","TM-10482"],"subject_ids":["TM-8937","TM-12535","TM-12534","TM-12533","TM-11849","TM-11841","TM-10482"],"subject_titles":["still life","velvet","cloth","fabric","green (color)","white (color)","flowers"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-2601"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-2601"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","organic material"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials"],"image_id":"0729fbba-51e3-a2d7-6d4d-61c2be62af3f","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Magnolias on Light Blue Velvet Cloth","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1983.791"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Magnolias on Light Blue Velvet Cloth"],"weight":10929,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-08-05T16:33:53-05:00","updated_at":"2026-08-05T20:15:22-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-06T05:52:38-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}