Charles Meurer: Still Life with Currency, Wine Glass, and Peach

Charles Meurer (1865–1955) was an American painter known for his trompe-l’œil (fool-the-eye) still-life paintings. Born in Germany, Meurer immigrated to the United States as a child and studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy under Frank Duveneck. He became one of the last prominent painters in the tradition of 19th-century American trompe-l’œil, specializing in highly detailed depictions of money, newspapers, and everyday objects. His work often carried patriotic themes, and his paintings of U.S. currency are especially noteworthy. Meurer spent much of his career in Terrace Park, Ohio, where he continued to paint and mentor younger artists.

Meurer’s paintings were not only strikingly realistic, they often combined objects that suggest a reference to something beyond the painting itself. The objects in Still Life with Currency, Wine Glass, and Peach (above) may refer to George Barnsdale Cox – a corrupt political boss who dominated Cincinnati politics from the 1880s until he died in 1916. “Cox” appears on an envelope partly visible behind the money. The wine, currency, and cigar make reference to Cox as well. They evoke his reputation for accepting bribes and his saloon where he began a political career.