The painter, Raphaelle Peale is known for his extraordinarily realistic still life paintings. He focused on creating still life painting despite its decline in popularity during his life time. He was often witty with his paintings and created some art pieces to play tricks on other people. "After The Bath", is one such portrait painted to trick his hot tempered wife into thinking that he painted a naked woman. The illusion of a naked woman behind a sheet was so successful that his wife tried to pull the sheet away in attempt to reveal the image. He continued to paint still life till he was no longer physically able to do so.
His art piece, “Orange and Book” is displayed at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts. This piece portrays a partially pealed orange sitting atop of a red book. A knife and partially dried up grapes are also propped up against the red book. This painting coveys to its audience a thoughtful and serene mood typical of a relaxing evening of reading books and eating oranges. The foods in this piece is generally convenient to eat since they’re easy to grab and enjoy while reading. Unlike full course meals, these convenient snacks portray a very relaxing mood