Americana & Folk Art

Back to Portraits

<Previous Item      Next Item>

A stunning oil on canvas of a young boy looking through a window.  While the style says American School, this self-taught artist obviously studied European portraits and no doubt borrowed this scene from a portrait or engraving he had seen.  This unidentified artist was obviously talented, but the naïveté of the painting, especially the hands, well represents the folk art tradition of early painting by self-taught artists.  The red curtain disguises the artist's difficulty of painting hands (hands and ears are the hardest for most artists to master).

This beautiful portrait was beautifully conserved in the 1950s or 1960s by the nationally renown Wiebold Studio in Ohio.  It is lined and there is a small amount of inpainting in the upper left corner.  I have given you a photo below with white arrows pointing to the inpainting, which appears to be all in the sky and one spot in the curtain.  As expected from Wiebold, the inpainting is well-done and not noticeable without a lot of work turning the painting to make the light hit it just so. The frame may be original and was also restored with black and gold paint plus fly-specking around the gold to simulate age.  Wiebold applied a cardboard dust cover to the back to protect the canvas from damage.  The back also bears the Wiebold trade label, which the current head conservator has identified as from the 1950s-60s.  There is a bit of paint flaking below the boy's chin and a tiny flake missing on the bodice of his jacket and in the upper left corner (represented in the photo below by a black arrow).  These are minor apologies for a fantastic portrait!  Circa 1790-1800.  Framed size 22 1/4" x 26 1/2".

(#3995)    $4500

Top