Peto, John F.

Peto, John F. pēˈtō [key], 1854–1907, American painter, b. Philadelphia. Largely self-taught, Peto worked in the exacting style of trompe l'oeil illusionism perfected by William Harnett. He sought to put down precisely what he saw without embellishment, choosing still-life subjects from 19th-century American life. These included weathered wood panels, lanterns, and scraps of paper. His Old Cremona (Metropolitan Mus.) is a characteristic work.

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