Welcome to our fruit-inspired Ekphrastic Poetry Gallery.
Students interested in exploring ekphrastic poetry are invited to choose one of the artworks below as inspiration. Each work, from Australian contemporary artists to famous still lifes to fruit and animals, offers a starting point for exploring how poetry and visual art can speak to one another.
Image credits and attributions can be found at the bottom of the page.
Australian Contemporary Artists
Famous Still Lifes
People and Fruit
Animals and Fruit
Fruit in the Wild
Image Credits and Attributions
Gallery: Australian Contemporary Artists
- Urban Whimsy (2018) by Sarah Walker. Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Sarah Walker.
- Banana Split (2023) by Penny Brooshooft. Cardcrete (recycled cardboard and paper with binders). Image courtesy of Penny Brooshooft.
- The Suspension of Time in the Season of Waiting (2019) by Sarah Walker. Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Sarah Walker.
- Pink Ladies (2025) by Julia Abbey. Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Julia Abbey.
- Topsy Turvy by Nicole Nelius. Image courtesy of Nicole Nelius.
- Hot Summer Evenings (2025) by Julia Abbey. Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Julia Abbey.
- Watermelon Sugar (2023) by Penny Brooshooft. Cardcrete (recycled cardboard and paper with binders). Image courtesy of Penny Brooshooft.
- A Posh Picnic by (2025) by Julia Abbey. Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Julia Abbey.
- Poached Pears (2023) by Penny Brooshooft. Cardcrete (recycled cardboard and paper with binders). Image courtesy of Penny Brooshooft.
Gallery: Famous Still Lifes
- A Banquet Still Life by Jan Davidsz de Heem (c.1640–41). Original at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio (1599). Original in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Candy Stripes by Eamon Everall (2000). Image via stuckism.com. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Fruit and a Jug on a Table by Paul Cezanne (c.1890). Original in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Newspaper and Fruit Dish by Juan Gris (1916). Oil on canvas. Original at the Yale University Art Gallery. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Lemons in a Bowl by Helene Schjerfbeck (1934-1944). Original at the Reitz Foundation Museum, Helsinki. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- Red Apples by Helene Schjerfbeck (1915). Original at the Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- Still Life: Apples and Pears in a Round Basket by Camille Pissarro (1872). Original in the Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Still Life with Fruit by Václav Špála (1934). Original at the National Gallery Prague, Prague. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- Strawberries and Bananas in a Basket by E. Meyner (c.1861). Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
Gallery: People and Fruit
- Alvida by John Bauer (1912). Originally published in Bland tomtar och troll. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Fruit and Vegetable Seller by Vincenzo Campi (1583). Image via Web Gallery of Art, Public Domain.
- Les Rambles – Turistic Exhibitions by Patano (2015). Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Cartoon by Waiyan Taunggyi (2020). Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The Strawberry Girl by Nicolino Calyo (c.1840). Original at the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- The Dessert: Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse (1908). Original in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Fruit Stall by Matthew Darly (c. 1777). Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Selling Melons by Joaquín Sorolla (1890). Original at the Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga, Spain. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Rudolf II of Habsburg as Vertumnus by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (c.1590). Original at Skokloster Castle, Sweden. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Portrait with Apples (Elisabeth with Apples) by August Macke (1909). Original at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
Gallery: Animals and Fruit
- Fruit Still Life by Herman Henstenburgh (c.1677-1726). Original at the Teylers Museum, Haarlem. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- Still Life with Parrot and Fruit by Frida Kahlo (1951). Original at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin. Image via Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain.
- Still Life with Pears and a Butterfly by Giovanna Garzoni (1640). Image via Art History Project, Public Domain.
- Crow Eating a Persimmon by Ohara Koson (c.1910). Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- ‘Plate 27: Cotton Plant’ from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium by Maria Sibylla Merian (1705). Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
- Still Life with Pear and Insects by Justus Juncker (1765). Original at the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Gallery: Fruit in the Wild
- Apple Tree I by Gustav Klimt (c.1912). Original in a Private Collection. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Strawberries by Johann Adam Schlesinger (1820). Original in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Image sourced via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Apple Tree by Iuliia Kotenko (2023). Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Under the Lemon Trees (1884) by Claude Monet. Original at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
- Apples by Ambroży Sabatowski (1917). Original in a private collection. Image via Artvee, Public Domain.
- I Fichi di Nonna by Andrea Camagna (2022). Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.