Artwork
The Alling Children
The Alling Children is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Oliver Tarbell Eddy. It dates from 1839 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Three children stand in stiff Sunday clothes: a boy holding an oversized hammer and two girls with a cat between them, its tail curled like a question mark. Eddy painted them in 1839, when most portraits stayed serious, yet these kids look faintly bored, as if they would rather be outside. The cat is the only one that seems alive.
Technique & Style
The work is classified as a portrait within the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing holdings and depicts two children accompanied by a cat and a hammer.
The Alling Children is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard medium for American portraiture of the period. The canvas measures 119.7 centimeters in height by 159.7 centimeters in width, giving it a horizontal orientation suited to a multi-figure group composition. The work is classified as a portrait within the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing holdings and depicts two children accompanied by a cat and a hammer.
The horizontal format and inclusion of domestic attributes are consistent with the conventions of mid-nineteenth-century American family portraiture, though the sources do not provide further detail on handling, brushwork, or current condition.
History & Provenance
Created in 1839, The Alling Children is an oil-on-canvas portrait painted by Oliver Tarbell Eddy. The work measures 119.7 by 159.7 centimeters and depicts a boy, a girl, and a cat alongside a hammer. While the specific commission details are not recorded in the provided sources, the painting's provenance includes its later acquisition by collectors Edgar William Garbisch and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.
Following their ownership, the artwork entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently housed in the American Wing. The piece remains a significant example of mid-19th-century American portraiture attributed to Eddy.
The Alling Children has been held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it forms part of the collection associated with the American Wing. Its present ownership reflects a bequest from Edgar William Garbisch and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, whose gift brought the painting into the museum's holdings. The canvas measures 119.7 by 159.7 centimeters and is catalogued as an oil-on-canvas portrait executed in 1839. No specific accession number, date of acquisition, or detailed exhibition history is recorded in the available documentation.
Overview
This oil on canvas, titled The Alling Children, was created by Eddy in 1839. It depicts three young subjects: a boy and two girls, posed formally in their best attire. A domestic cat rests between the girls, its tail curving distinctively.
The composition captures a quiet, perhaps somewhat constrained, moment, characteristic of early American portraiture that often balanced formality with a glimpse into domestic life.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait presents the Alling children in stiff Sunday clothes, their expressions suggesting a youthful impatience or boredom rather than the solemnity typical of the era. The boy holds a hammer that appears disproportionately large for his hands, while the two girls share space with a cat, whose lively posture contrasts with the children's stillness. This subtle tension between the children's demeanor and the cat's animation offers a nuanced portrayal of childhood.
Context
Painted in 1839, The Alling Children offers a glimpse into American portraiture during a period when many artists favored serious and dignified representations. Eddy's work, however, introduces a more informal quality, depicting children who appear less than enthusiastic about their sitting. This subtle departure from strict formality provides insight into evolving artistic conventions and the portrayal of youth in 19th-century American art, reflecting a growing interest in domestic scenes.
Artist & collection
