Portrait of Truman Holmes, Jr.

Date1854

Artist/Maker Louis Joseph Bahin (1813 - 1857)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 35 5/8 x 25in. (90.5 x 63.5cm) and Framed: 41 3/4 x 32 5/8in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1936.100.9

DescriptionOil portrait of young boy sitting on small hill in landscape. Large tree trunk fills upper left corner and smaller trees fill area behind him. To his left in distance is a river with a hazy plantation house in distance on far back and a steamboat sailing up river. Rocks and vegetation and spikey plant with red berries on it in lower left corner. Young prim boy with short blonde hair parted to side and blue eyes is seated with his legs gracefully crossed. His right hand is hidden behind a white and brown fox terrier-like dog that sits beside him. Boy wears red overdress with lace edging at scooped neckline and short sleeves. Dress has black trim on sleeves and border of hem as well as around row of gold buttons down front of dress. He wears white pantaletts trimmed with lace and white stockings reaching almost to his knees with red stripes around the tops of them, and black slippers. His body is fairly well formed and he seems sulky, with long eyelashes.
Label TextLouis Joseph Bahin came to the United States from Marseilles, France, in 1848. In 1854 he applied for U.S. citizenship in Adams County, Mississippi. The artist worked in New Orleans and Natchez, and some of his paintings are represented in collections in those areas. Bahin died in New Orleans in 1857.

Besides his name, nothing is known about Truman Holmes, Jr., the subject of this 1854 portrait. He may be the son of Capt. Truman Holmes, who is listed in the New Orleans city directories for 1860 and 1861.
Markings"Bahin/1854" was painted on the rock at lower left but the inscription is barely visible. Early records indicate that "Bahin" once appeared on the reverse of the canvas, but the lining now obscures any such inscription.
ProvenancePurchased by Mrs. Rockefeller from Katrina Kipper of Accord, Mass. Given to CW in 1939 by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.