John George Brown Oil Painting on Canvas of a Boy and Sailboat

Item Details

An oil painting on canvas portrait of a young boy and his toy sail ship by well-listed American painter John George Brown (1831-1913). A young boy stands tall in fine dress with his feet crossed. His face appears in excellent detail. In his left hand he pulls the string that powers his model sail ship afloat in the trough. A farm landscape spans in the distance behind the boy rendered in dark earthen tones. Signed to the lower left in paint with the initials ‘NA’ next to his name. Presented without glass, housed in an ornate painted gesso Louis XV style frame with pierced molding and a brass plaque to the lower center for J.G. Brown.

John George Brown was born in Durham, England in 1831. He apprenticed for seven years as a glass blower in Newcastle Upon Tyne and attended the School of the Royal Scottish Academy under Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869). After a brief time as a painter in London, he emigrated to Brooklyn and began working as a glass cutter. Brown went on to study under miniature painter Thomas Cummings (1804-1894) and eventually marry his daughter. He continued his studies at the National Academy of Design, becoming an elected member of the National Academy of Design. Brown would come to be known for his fine detailed portraits of juveniles against landscape backgrounds.

Condition

- canvas has been relined atop a newer canvas and re-stretched; heavy signs of cleaning under UV light; inpainting present to the lower right center; scratches, marks and chips present to the frame; craquelure present in both the frame and the canvas.

Dimensions

- measures the frame; canvas size 22" W x 26" H.

Item #

17DCC093-690