Theodore Clement Steele, American, 1847–1926
1893
Oil on canvas
30.125 in x 40.125 in
Courtesy of Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Currently on View in K210
Steele said the hazy, frosty days of late October and early November reminded him of the “bloom of the grape.”
Although Steele was aware of contemporary art movements, he likely only encountered Impressionism in person at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Painted just after his visit, The Bloom of the Grape shifts Steele’s style toward Impressionism with its colorful violets complemented by yellows and oranges.
One of Steele’s most celebrated landscapes, this painting received an honorable mention at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris and brought international attention to Indiana painting.1
1Painted in Vernon, Indiana, this is one of Steele’s best-known landscapes.