I wasn’t entirely sure what category would be the best place for this interesting sketch of a man with fruit. He was one of many pieces from a sketchbook a museum dated to around 1870. Many of the sketches featured friezes and other architectural elements from Europe. Perhaps, this fellow gazed down at the artist from a tall building. Or maybe he is a collage of various art forms and source material.
Regardless of what inspired this interesting illustration, I find it unusual and certainly worthy of getting more notice. I do wish, I could credit the original artist.
The man with fruit reminds me a bit of Geoffrey Holder when he was suggesting we all try the “un-cola”; 7-UP. I’m not sure if Holder was ever pictured with a fruit-laden hat, but there was a time he portrayed the easy, devil-may-care lifestyle so many of us believed could be found in the Caribbean. Tropical fruits upon his head and a large tropical flower seeming to grow out of his chin, this fellow definitely looks like he’s having fun in the sun.
It’s a pencil sketch from a 140+ year-old sketchbook. I’ve removed some of the brown spots and smears that were probably the result of time but have left the graininess of the paper and some of the smudges probably created by the artist’s own hand.
It’s a great big illustration – 2229 x 1665px. Hopefully, someone will think he would make the perfect addition to their own artwork. As always, with these large illustrations, I’ve only included a smaller version on this page – you can simply click on the illustration below to access the full version.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
