James Badger

Joseph Badger

1760 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

An inscription on the back of the canvas indicates that Badger painted this portrait of his three-year-old grandson, James (1757–1817). Largely self-trained and influenced by British print sources, Badger presented his young sitter with a compelling directness and honesty. The fashionably attired boy is shown standing in a generalized landscape setting, with cherries in his right hand and a bird perched on the index finger of his left.

Artist

Joseph Badger

Date

1760

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1929