b. 1854 d. 1907

Site Affiliation: John F. Peto Studio Museum

John Frederick Peto is recognized by the art world as an American master of the trompe l’oeil or “fool the eye” school of still-life painting. He was born in Philadelphia in 1854, went to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1877, and exhibited there that same year. The artist created his works in Island Heights, NJ in virtual obscurity during his lifetime. However, today, the work of this significant 19th-century American artist can be found on the walls of major art museums across the country even though his work was overlooked for many years. William Harnett’s signature was forged on the best Peto paintings. This accounts for the fact that many art historians even today are unaware of his importance.

Fun Fact: The “rediscovery” of Peto’s artwork is a great detective story. In the 1940s art historian Alfred Frankenstein determined that many pieces sold as original paintings by William M. Harnett (a very successful contemporary and friend of Peto) were actually works by John F. Peto. After Peto’s death, it is believed that an unscrupulous Philadelphia-based art dealer purchased a number of paintings by Peto and forged Harnett’s signature over the artist’s name in order to obtain higher selling prices. Examples of Peto works containing forged Harnett signatures can be found on the walls of major museums today, including the paintings Breakfast in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Marked Passage in the Princeton University Art Museum, and Old Time Card Rack in The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C, where they are all correctly attributed to John F. Peto.
In addition to his painting talents, Peto was an accomplished coronet player.

Recommended Publications: John F. Peto’s Past, Present & Future (Fine Art Connoisseur, March/April 2022) Discover American master painter John F. Peto at his Island Heights historic home & studio (The City Pulse, July 31, 2020)