Artwork
Portrait of Three Boys
Portrait of Three Boys is a watercolor painting by the American Folk Art artist Thomas Badger. It dates from 1834 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work is classified as a portrait where the primary focus remains on the depiction of the boys alongside these botanical and entomological details.
Created in 1830 by Thomas Badger, this watercolor on ivory functions as a portrait depicting three young boys. Beyond the human figures, the composition incorporates specific natural elements, namely a leaf and a butterfly. While the available records confirm the presence of these subjects within the genre of portraiture, they do not provide explicit interpretations regarding the specific symbolism of the insect or foliage, nor do they elaborate on the deeper representational meaning intended by the artist.
The work is classified as a portrait where the primary focus remains on the depiction of the boys alongside these botanical and entomological details.
Technique & Style
The Portrait of Three Boys is executed in watercolor on ivory, a medium that places it within the early‑19th‑century American portrait miniature tradition represented in the Metropolitan Museum’s American Wing. The ivory support serves as the ground for transparent washes and fine linear detail, allowing Badger to render the three boys’ faces with precision while adding a butterfly and a leaf as accompanying attributes. Measuring roughly 12.5 cm high by 9.2 cm wide, the small scale reinforces an intimate viewing experience and demands careful handling of the delicate medium.
Stylistically, the work combines straightforward portraiture with these symbolic motifs, aligning it with the portrait genre of the American Wing.
History & Provenance
The watercolor on ivory titled Portrait of Three Boys was created by the American artist Thomas Badger in 1830. While the specific circumstances regarding its original commission or the identities of the sitters are not detailed in the available records, the work's inception is firmly established within this year. Following its creation, the piece entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently housed and classified under the institution's American Wing.
The artwork, measuring approximately 12.5 by 9.2 units, depicts three boys alongside natural elements such as a leaf and a butterfly. No further details regarding an intermediate ownership chain or private provenance prior to its museum acquisition are provided in the current documentation.
Portrait of Three Boys is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is catalogued as part of the museum's holdings, though a specific accession or inventory number is not listed in the available records. The painting was created by Thomas Badger in 1830 and is classified within the American Wing's portrait genre.
Exhibition activity for this piece is not documented in the sources consulted, indicating that it has not been featured in publicly recorded exhibitions to date.
Overview
This miniature, titled Portrait of Three Boys, is a watercolor executed on ivory. Depicting three young boys in a small format, approximately the size of a playing card, it offers an intimate glimpse into 19th-century American family life. The delicate painting captures the children side-by-side, engaged in a moment of youthful curiosity, characteristic of the era's personal keepsakes.
Context
This particular work was created by the artist Badger in Boston, a city where the practice of commissioning miniature portraits flourished among affluent families. These intimate artworks were valued as personal keepsakes, commissioned to commemorate children and family members. The demand for such detailed, small-scale portraits reflects a cultural desire to capture and preserve individual likenesses before the advent of widespread photographic technology.
Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas Badger (1792–1868) was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century.
- Syskonen Henrietta Fredrika von Arbin (1852-1880) och Axel Otto Fredrik von Arbin (1853-1906)
The daughters of Sir Matthew Decker, Bart.
Julius Sigerus, copil
Ottilia and Christy Marstrand, the Artist’s daughters
The Vanderkemp Children
Five Children of the Budd Family
The Reluctant Scholar
Portrait of two Children
Watson Van Benthuysen II and Thomas Van Benthuysen
Portrait of Three Sisters from the Hausner Family
Adrian Baucker Holmes Children
The Westwood Children
