Art in CONTEXT

Although the main subject of this portrait is a shyly smiling boy, it is the dog that makes this early American painting so memorable. Leashed incongruously by a thin blue ribbon, the large white animal looks up adoringly at its master. As was typical for a portrait of this period, the child is well dressed and stands in an impressive setting, perhaps the columned porch of his home.

The identity of both the boy and the artist are not entirely certain. The subject may be Walter Gebhart, while the artist is believed to be Charles Soule, Jr., son of one of Dayton's most noted painters. Charles Soule, Sr. (1809 - 1869), well regarded as a portraitist, trained three of his seven children as painters. Young Charles followed his father's path, working first as a carriage painter, before becoming an itinerant portrait painter. In this regard, the Soules embody the typical experience of nineteenth century American portraitists: self-trained, they applied their skills in practical ways, traveling when necessary to find work.

The Soules were not alone as portrait painters in Dayton: records indicate there were more than a dozen portraitists active at the time. Although photography was invented in the late 1830s, it took several decades before daguerreotype studios replaced traditional artists in the lucrative field of portraiture. While the camera provided unparalleled accuracy, painters could offer color, varied settings, and the opportunity to "improve" the subject's features. Indeed, portraits such as this one -- so rich with color and naive delight -- are today valued more highly than the stiff realism often found in photographic portraits of the same period.

Eileen Carr

SUGGESTED READING:

Jean Lipman and Alice Winchester. The Flowering of American Folk Art, 1776-1876. New York: Viking Press, in cooperation with The Whitney Museum of American Art, 1994.

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