| Object ID |
N0231.1961 |
| Title |
One Shoe Off |
| Artist |
Brewster, John Jr. |
| Object Name |
Painting |
| Early Date |
1807 |
| Exhibit label line3 |
John Brewster, Jr. was deaf-mute from birth. He studied painting under Rev. Joseph Steward (1753-1822) and began to paint professionally by the early 1790s in the area around his native Hampton, Connecticut. By 1796, he relocated to Buxton, Maine, where he lived between periods of itinerancy. Brewster was enrolled in the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons from 1817 until 1820, after which he resumed his career as a painter. Throughout his successful career, Brewster traveled widely in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and eastern New York State.
In One Shoe Off, Brewster expresses the delicate features and playful innocence of childhood. Traces of red paint visible underneath the paint surface of the bare left foot suggest that the artist placed the red shoe in the child's hand as an afterthought. The patterned floor is an embellishment Brewster often employed in his portraits of children; the stenciled design amusingly mimics the tied bow of the sitter's right shoe. While the sitter has not been conclusively identified, an inscription on the reverse suggests that this portrait descended in the Avery, Chapman, Loomer, or Vergason families of Norwich, Connecticut.
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| Description |
Marks: Pencil script on upper member of stretcher: "John Brewster, Jr. Pinxit June 4th 1807." |
| Classification |
Folk Art--Painting/Drawing--Portrait--Human |
| Dimensions |
H-35 W-25 inches |
| Material |
Oil on canvas |
| Makers mark |
Pencil script on upper member of stretcher: "John Brewster, Jr. Pinxit June 4th |
| Place of Origin |
New England or New York State |
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Prior written permission is required for any reproduction, redistribution, publication, or other use of the images in any media, including but not limited to, printed or electronic media. Contact the Office of the Registrar, New York State Historical Association, PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326, (607) 547-1444, to request permission.
Last modified on: November 04, 2005
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