Child with Dog

Date1770-1790 (probably)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 24 x 15in. (61 x 38.1cm) and Framed: 27 5/8 x 18 1/2in.

Credit LineFrom the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Collection, Gift of David Rockefeller

Object number1931.100.2

DescriptionA full-length portrait of a child in a sheer white dress with a red underskirt showing through it, the sheer skirt having two tucks above the hem. The square neckline has a scalloped lace edge, and the short sleeves have turned-up cuffs, trimmed in lace. A rose-colored sash is tied in a bow under the proper left arm. The child holds a large pink rose in the proper left hand while feeding a small brown dog seated on the floor with her other hand. The child has straight, dark blonde hair with evenly cut bangs and blue eyes and wears red shoes with pointed toes. The background is greyish brown, and the floor is patterned with marbelized green, black, and white cubes presenting a three-dimensional effect. Artist unidentified.

The 2-inch mahogany frame is a modern replacement.
Label TextThere is a timeless appeal to this abstract image of a young girl who stares intently at the viewer while she slips a morsel of food to an eager puppy at her side. The untutored artist seems to have had more experience with decorative painting than with portraiture because the cubed floor design has a spatial quality not achieved in the flat representation of the child. Only the depiction of a red underskirt, barely visible through the transparent dress, marks an attempt to lend depth and texture to the figure. The unidentified limner's naive approach to rendering form as well as perspective and anatomy is compensated by effective accents of bright color--a moss rose, pink sash and cheeks, and vibrant red shoes.
ProvenanceFound in Massachusetts by Isabel Carleton Wilde; purchased from Wilde by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; purchased from Halpert by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in 1932; given to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, by Rockefeller in 1939; transferred from the MoMA to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, in 1949; purchased from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by David Rockefeller and given by him to CWF in 1955.