Catalogue Entry
Young boys have been a traditional staples of genre painting. To patrons of art during the mid-nineteenth century these youths recalled memories of their own growing years in which innocence was becoming more and more modified by mischievous cunning. —PH
The Round Table, January 27, 1866: "At the art agency of Mr. S. P. Avery…One of the most pleasing little gems that we have seen in some time is a small picture by Eastman Johnson, consisting of a single figure. That figure represents a very small boy of the flaky complexion, who may fairly be taken as a type of ‘Young America.’ He wears a red shirt, and stands with his back to the fire, gazing out with a defiant air at the world in general. Near him stands a pair of cow-skin boots nearly as tall as himself, the juxtaposition conveying a hint that the precocious youth thinks himself quite big enough to wear anybody’s boots. The exquisite humor of this little picture is only excelled by its color and careful finish.”