Imitation

John Haberle

National Gallery of Art

Two pieces of paper money, two coins, and a small black and white photograph of a bearded man seem to be affixed to a dark surface surrounded by a wide wooden frame, to which several stamps have been affixed in the lower left corner. A dollar bill with frayed edges is stuck to the black background across the center, and the lower left corner lifts up. The dollar bill has a portrait of George Washington in an oval at the center with “UNITED STATES” above. The serial number “Z143091888” appears in red to the left and is repeated in the upper right corner, and “ONE DOLLAR WASHINGTON DC” is printed in black to the right. Overlapping the top left of the dollar bill, another bill about half the size is printed with a portrait of a cleanshaven, light-skinned man in a high-necked coat and frilled collar, angled to our right but looking at us over a long, hooked nose and wide lips. To our right, the bill reads, “UNITED STATES FRACTIONAL CURRENCY,” and, below a seal, “FIFTY CENTS.” Above the dollar bill, a worn, copper-colored coin is held to the panel by three small prongs. The coin has the head of a person facing our left in profile. An inscription around the edge reads, “AUCTORI CONNEC.” A small photograph showing the head and shoulders of a bearded, balding man wearing glasses and a dark suit seems to have been tucked into the lower left corner between the dark background and the wood frame. Slightly behind the photograph, a silver coin resting on the ledge of the frame has a six-pointed star with a striped crest at the center, and is inscribed around the edge, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1853.” Above the photograph is a dark circular stamp stuck with a pin. Attached to the bottom left corner of the wood frame are several different colored, cancelled stamps, some of them torn. In the bottom center, a piece of paper with the typed words “J. Haberle” seems to have been pasted onto the frame. The painting is inscribed in the upper right with red against the black field: “J. HABERLE NEW HAVEN, CT. 1887.” Upon closer inspection, we notice the edge of the wood frame is actually rough canvas. There also does not seem to be a gap between the painted picture and the wood frame. We eventually realize that all of it—the money, photograph, stamps, and frame—are all painted to create an illusion.