1870 · [Washington, DC]
by Robert, Oscar (1829-1901)
[Washington, DC], 1870. Original watercolor, charcoal and chalk drawing on canvas, 24.5 x 29.5 in., glazed and framed. Signed by the artist. The young boy is well dressed in a double-breasted suit and bow tie, with button-up boots. He stands on a tiled terrace, one hand one a balustrade, the other tucked into his jacket pocket staring determinedly off into the distance. Through the surrounding trees and shrubbery is a view of a small fountain and the Capitol Building on a slight hill. Oscar Robert, born in Copenhagen, Denmark emigrated to the United States around 1864 and settled in Washington, D.C. where he remained for the rest of his life, according to a brief biography in Virgil McMahan's "The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996," [Wash., DC: 1995]. He worked in oils, watercolor and crayon. During the late 1880s he shared a studio and gallery with Earl Keyser. Boyd's 1887 Directory for Washington lists their gallery at 307 7th St. NW. McMahan states that this portrait is the only one of his works known. (Inventory #: 61959)