Ripening Pears

Joseph Decker

National Gallery of Art

More than three dozen pears clustered densely on leafy branches against a vivid blue sky fill this long, horizontal painting. Most of the pears are golden yellow and touched with blush pink on one side. Pieces of fruit hanging closer to the corners of the composition are darker green. The long leaves have smooth edges that come to points at both ends. Three wasps dig into a pear that looks partially devoured near the bottom center of the composition, and some of the leaves in that area have brown spots or holes. The artist signed the painting near the lower left corner, “J. Decker.”