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Exhibition History“Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, December 12, 1980 – February 1, 1981.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“Little Women, Little Men: Folk Portraits of Children from Fenimore Art Museum,” Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA, September 22, 2006 – February 4, 2007; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, July 2, 2005 – October 16, 2005; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, October 29, 2005 – December 31, 2005.
“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp. 178-180, illus. no. 115 on p. 179.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C. Jones, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic ([exh. cat.], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p. 14, number 8, illustration 8.
Artist
Unidentified Artist
(American)
Boy in Gray Suit with Dog
Date1815-1825
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 43 3/16 × 25 1/2 in. (109.7 × 64.8 cm)
Object numberN0270.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis lively full-length portrait exhibits wonderful child-like impishness in the boy's facial expression and posture. The young subject stands next to a table in a dark interior scene, holds an open book in his right hand and grasps the ear of his playful dog with the left. His pudgy face, reddish flesh tones and slight smile evince a childishness rarely communicated in folk portraiture. The artist's inability to render anatomy realistically is evident in the boy's short neck, hunched shoulders and stiff legs, all of which happily contribute to the youthful exuberance of this figure. Adding to the portrait's visual appeal are the fashionable Titus or Brutus hair style and the gray pearlescent, high-waisted Empire suit, both features deriving from the popular French modes of the Napoleonic era in vogue during the early nineteenth century in America. Another attractive feature is the curious heart-shaped white spot on the dog's side. The artist clearly had some awareness of the properties of light, as the placement of shadows and shiny reflections on the boy's shoes indicate a single light source emanating from the right side of the picture.
Exhibition History“Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, December 12, 1980 – February 1, 1981.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“Little Women, Little Men: Folk Portraits of Children from Fenimore Art Museum,” Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA, September 22, 2006 – February 4, 2007; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, July 2, 2005 – October 16, 2005; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, October 29, 2005 – December 31, 2005.
“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp. 178-180, illus. no. 115 on p. 179.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C. Jones, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic ([exh. cat.], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p. 14, number 8, illustration 8.
On View
Not on view
