Philadelphia-born artist William McCloskey’s training mainly consisted of drawing the human figure, but throughout his career he primarily focused on painting still lifes. One of his instructors and a well-known artist, Thomas Eakins, told him to, “Paint an orange. After you have done it, introduce a white thing … try to get the light and color.” These words impacted McCloskey. He went on to paint tissue-wrapped oranges throughout his life, like in this artwork, Wrapped Oranges.

In the center of the gold-framed, 12-by-16 inch canvas, there are six oranges on a on a highly-reflective, wood table. They are shown at close range in a very shallow space. The top two thirds of the background is dark black, and the bottom third of the painting is a plain, shiny wood surface. A light source comes from out of the frame on the left side. The six round oranges on the table are arranged left to right, some wrapped in white tissue while others are bare.

The first, left-most fruit is a bright orange with the top left of the sphere a little more yellow, reflecting the light. The second orange is completely wrapped in white tissue paper. McCloskey masterfully paints the tissue paper so thin and crisp that you can practically feel the texture of the paper in your hand. The veil of white mutes the orange, which again the artist excellently captures, under the delicate tissue paper. Oranges three and four are stacked directly on top of each other. The top fruit is only partially covered by tissue paper, allowing you to see bright orange in two spots. The open edges of the tissue paper reach up toward the top of the painting, breaking up the black background. The orange on the bottom is unwrapped, dazzling with color and hints of its bumpy texture. This bottom one is closest to us. The next, fifth citrus fruit to the right is wrapped in ripped tissue; through the large rip we see the darker, circular flower stalk of the blossom visible. Parts of the ripped tissue paper extend out toward us. The sixth and final, right-most orange, is entirely wrapped. The edges of the crinkled tissue are pinched and pointing out toward us, but the thin white still reveals the muted orange underneath.

McCloskey painted these fruits as if they were individual portraits, giving each orange its own personality.