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In One Shoe Off, Brewster expresses the delicate features and playful innocence of childhood. Traces of red paint visible underneath the paint surface of the bare left foot suggest that the artist placed the red shoe in the child’s hand as an afterthought. The patterned floor is an embellishment Brewster often employed in his portraits of children; the stenciled design amusingly mimics the tied bow of the sitter’s right shoe.
Exhibition History“Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children,” Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 13, 1995 – October 29, 1995.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001– March 24, 2001.
“Folk Art Masters,” The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, September 19, 2001 – January 6, 2002.
“American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York,” Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 11, 2004 – April 16, 2004.
“A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr.,” Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME, January 25, 2007 – March 25, 2007; American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, October 4, 2006 – January 7, 2007; Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 17, 2006 – September 10, 2006; The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, February 5, 2006 – April 30, 2006; Fenimore House Museum, Cooperstown, NY, April 1, 2005 – December 31, 2005
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. 48-49, illus.no.20.
George R. Clay, "Children of the Young Republic," American Heritage XI (April 1960),p. 53 ill.
Suzette Lane and Paul D'Ambrosio, "Folk Art in the New York State Historical Association," Antiques CXXIV (September 1983), illus. as plate IV on p. 520.
Nina Fletcher Little, "John Brewster, Jr., 1766-1854: Deaf-Mute Portrait Painter of Connecticut and Maine," Connecticut Historical Bulletin 25 (October 1960), p.125, illus. as fig 25 on p. 125.
Jones, Agnes Halsey and Louis C., "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" ([exh. cat.], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), pp. 27-28, no. 60, ill. 60.
Artist
John Brewster Jr.
(1766 - 1854)
One Shoe Off
Date1807
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 34 1/4 × 24 1/4 in. (87 × 61.6 cm)
Object numberN0231.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextJohn Brewster, Jr. was a deaf portrait painter who created hauntingly beautiful images of American life during the formative period of the nation. He was born in rural Hampton, Connecticut in 1766 and was encouraged to learn to read and write when young in light of his hearing loss. His talent for painting was recognized early and fostered through a period of artistic studies under an experienced portrait painter, the Reverend Joseph Steward (1753-1822). Working in a style that emphasized simpler settings, along with broad, flat areas of color, and soft, expressive facial features, Brewster achieved a directness and intensity of vision rarely equaled.In One Shoe Off, Brewster expresses the delicate features and playful innocence of childhood. Traces of red paint visible underneath the paint surface of the bare left foot suggest that the artist placed the red shoe in the child’s hand as an afterthought. The patterned floor is an embellishment Brewster often employed in his portraits of children; the stenciled design amusingly mimics the tied bow of the sitter’s right shoe.
Exhibition History“Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children,” Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 13, 1995 – October 29, 1995.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001– March 24, 2001.
“Folk Art Masters,” The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, September 19, 2001 – January 6, 2002.
“American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York,” Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 11, 2004 – April 16, 2004.
“A Deaf Artist in Early America: The Worlds of John Brewster Jr.,” Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME, January 25, 2007 – March 25, 2007; American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, October 4, 2006 – January 7, 2007; Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 17, 2006 – September 10, 2006; The Mennello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, February 5, 2006 – April 30, 2006; Fenimore House Museum, Cooperstown, NY, April 1, 2005 – December 31, 2005
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. 48-49, illus.no.20.
George R. Clay, "Children of the Young Republic," American Heritage XI (April 1960),p. 53 ill.
Suzette Lane and Paul D'Ambrosio, "Folk Art in the New York State Historical Association," Antiques CXXIV (September 1983), illus. as plate IV on p. 520.
Nina Fletcher Little, "John Brewster, Jr., 1766-1854: Deaf-Mute Portrait Painter of Connecticut and Maine," Connecticut Historical Bulletin 25 (October 1960), p.125, illus. as fig 25 on p. 125.
Jones, Agnes Halsey and Louis C., "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" ([exh. cat.], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), pp. 27-28, no. 60, ill. 60.
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