Along with his contemporaries William Harnett and John F. Peto, John Haberle is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of the late 19th century American still life tradition. His trompe l'oeil compositions, noted for their wit and humor as well as their illusion of reality, make him one of the most accomplished practitioners of this specialized and highly popular style.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1856 to German immigrants, Haberle was apprenticed to a local lithography firm at the age of fourteen. Between 1874 and 1880, he was employed as a lithographer, first in New Haven and later in Montreal. He may also have been active in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York City. He returned to New Haven around 1880. For the next four years he was employed by Othniel Charles Marsh, the renowned paleontologist and a founder of Yale's Peabody Museum. Much of Haberle's time was devoted to cleaning fossils and mounting skeletons although he may possibly have contributed illustrations to several of Marsh's books. During this period, he continued to work as a lithographer, draughtsman and painter.
In 1884, Haberle enrolled in classes at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Returning to New Haven a year later, he resumed his position with Marsh while continuing to paint and draw in his spare time. He was an active member of the New Haven Sketch Club which he helped to found in 1883 and taught drawing there for many years. Around 1886, he may have come into contact with the work of William Harnett, whose trompe l'oeil pictures were highly influential on the American still life school. One of Haberle's earliest illusionistic still lifes, Imitation, was shown at the National Academy's annual exhibition of 1887. It was immediately purchased by the prominent art patron Thomas B. Clarke, an important factor in the establishment of Haberle's reputation as a still life specialist.
In addition to his submissions to the National Academy's exhibitions, Haberle sometimes displayed his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and at the Art Institute of Chicago. His list of patrons grew steadily throughout the late 1880's and early 1890's and included many businessmen as well as saloon and hotel keepers, all attracted to the humorous and satirical qualities of his work. Indeed, the largely male audience for his pictures was reflected in his choice of subject matter, which included such masculine themes as currency, hunting trophies, letter racks and newspaper clippings. In terms of style, he focussed on tight execution and fine detail. His money paintings were considered so convincing that he was once warned by federal officials to stop producing them as he was, in their eyes, making counterfeit bills.
Unfortunately, Haberle's career as a trompe l'oeil painter lasted only about thirteen years. By 1893, failing eyesight required that he give up his highly detailed compositions. He later directed his attention to impressionistic still lifes of flowers and animals, although he did produce the occasional trompe l'oeil piece until as late as 1909. He also worked as a decorator and muralist and produced a number of small sculptures and bas-reliefs. Around 1896, he moved to Morris Cove, a town about twelve miles from New Haven.
Haberle died in New Haven in 1933. For a number of years, until the pioneering work of Alfred Frankenstein in the early 1950's he remained neglected.1 However, his distinctive contribution tot he American still life tradition has since been acknowledged with major retrospective exhibitions in 1962 and 1985.2 Haberle's pictures can be found in the collections of America's major art institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
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1 See Alfred Frankenstein, After the Hunt: William Harnett and Other American Still Life Painters, 1870-1900, rev. ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975). First published 1953.
2 See Haberle Retrospective Exhibition (New Britain: New Britain Museum of Art, 1962) and Gertrude Grace Sill, John Haberle: Master of Illusion (Springfield: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985).
