Artwork
Portrait of a Boy
Portrait of a Boy is a watercolor painting. It dates from 1820 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This miniature portrait depicts a young boy, his youthful features and direct gaze captured in a dark suit.
About this work
Technique & Style
Portrait of a Boy is executed in watercolor on ivory, a miniature format suited to delicate, translucent handling. The composition is small and intimate, measuring 5.1 by 4.3 cm, which is consistent with the scale typical of ivory supports used for portable portraits in the early nineteenth century. The work is classified within The American Wing and dated to 1820.
History & Provenance
The artist remains anonymous, and the piece is listed in the museum's catalogue as part of the institution's provenance research on early American portraiture.
Portrait of a Boy is a watercolor on ivory created in 1820, showing a young male sitter and classified as a portrait within the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work is recorded in the museum's collection under accession number 2006.235.292, having entered the museum's holdings in 2006. Its physical dimensions are 5.1 cm in height and 4.3 cm in width.
The artist remains anonymous, and the piece is listed in the museum's catalogue as part of the institution's provenance research on early American portraiture.
Context
Portrait of a Boy is an 1820 watercolor on ivory portrait of a child held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing. The work measures 5.1 by 4.3 cm and depicts a boy, fitting the genre of early nineteenth-century American portraiture. Its anonymous authorship places it within the corpus of early American miniature portraiture, illustrating the style and conventions of the period.
Overview
This miniature portrait depicts a young boy, his youthful features and direct gaze captured in a dark suit. Rendered with watercolor on a small slice of ivory, the artwork is notably diminutive, measuring less than a standard playing card. Such intimate pieces served as cherished mementos, reflecting a common practice for preserving likenesses during the early 19th century.
Artist & collection
