Charles Frederick Thompson, Son of the Artist, in Red

Artist

Cephas Thompson (American 1775–1856)

Date

n.d.

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

20 1/4 x 16 1/4 in. (51.4 x 41.3 cm)

Description

The eighth and last child of the artist by his first wife Olive Leonard (who died in 1819), Charles (1816–1839) would die in his early twenties “in the South.” In this portrait he is a wiggly little boy, at age three or four, and the artist probably gave up on painting more than a rough sketch, as evidenced by the unfinished hands of the toddler. On the lower left is the artist’s cold stamp: C. THOMPSON, an unusual practice, seemingly of Thompson’s own invention.

Credit Line

Bequest of P. Compton Miller, Jr., 1993

Object Number

UR257