William Mason Brown challenges the expectations of still life by stripping the composition of any manmade objects, such as porcelain dishware or ornate table linens, instead emphasizing the raspberries in exquisite detail on a bed of grass and dirt. Brown’s almost hyperrealist rendering suggests his commitment to creating images of nature that were as true to observation as possible. He was one of several American still life painters between 1850 and 1870 who embraced the naturalist ideals of English art critic John Ruskin.