Prunus persica: Alexander (1918)

Dated 1918, "Prunus persica: Alexander" is an artwork by Royal Charles Steadman. Historical background, 1918: Dada and Surrealism followed the First World War, the Bauhaus school was founded in 1919, and Art Deco became the fashionable decorative style of the 1920s and 1930s. The first decades of the twentieth century were a period of rapid experiment, with Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, and the first abstract painting appearing within a few years of each other. The catalogue places it in Plants & Animals. The format is portrait. Plants & Animals in brief: Naturalists and artists often worked together, especially on voyages and in published surveys of flora and fauna. Images of plants and animals run from medieval herbals and bestiaries to the scientific illustration of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

Buying "Prunus persica: Alexander" means getting a digital file, not a physical print: Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI, delivered by email once payment is confirmed. A 300 DPI file is intended for printing at home or at a local print shop, where you can choose a matte, satin, or fine-art paper to suit the room. A portrait format suits narrow wall spaces, hallways, and the area beside a door or window. Flora and fauna subjects make an interior feel softer and more alive, adding a natural rhythm that works well in both traditional and contemporary spaces. A simple frame with a mat often helps an image settle comfortably into a room. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks. Hang the print away from direct sunlight, which over the years can fade any printed colour.

American, 1875–1964

If you like the visual language of Royal Charles Steadman, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.