‘Still Life with Pipe”, oil on academy board, inscribed on reverse, “Painted by my father, John F. Peto – Helen Peto Smiley". Several gallery labels verso. John Frederick Peto was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of a dealer in picture frames. Little is known of his early artistic training except that he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1877 and during the next half dozen years he contributed works to its annual exhibitions. Peto spent most of his career working in relative obscurity in the small coastal town of Island Heights, New Jersey, away from mainstream art circles. However, he is recognized today as one of America's foremost exponents of trompe l'oeil ('fool the eye') still life, a mode of painting that was highly popular during the late nineteenth century, practiced by the likes of William Harnett (1848-1892) and John Haberle (1856-1933). Peto's artfully composed still lifes range from the whimsical to the meditative and are comprised of worn & commonplace objects. Through skillful manipulation of color, form and composition, John Frederick Peto imbued his paintings with deeper meaning, all the while impressing the viewer with his ability to obscure the boundaries between reality and illusion. Overall Size: 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. Sight Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in.