John and Louisa Stock

Joseph Whiting Stock

1845 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

As a prolific itinerant portraitist in the Connecticut River valley, Stock kept a journal of his daily activities, recording that he painted more than nine hundred works between 1832 and 1846. From the age of eleven, Stock was paralyzed from the waist down. He was able to travel in later years with the aid of a specially designed wheelchair. The children seen here are thought to be those of the artist’s younger brother, Isaac C. Stock, and sister-in-law, Sarah Hunt Stock, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Painting his subjects at full length, the artist employed colorful props in a detailed interior containing flat, abstract elements that are appealing to the modern eye.

Artist

Joseph Whiting Stock

Date

1845

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1966