Man and Child (from McGuire Scrapbook)
William Page
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
In 1850 Page traveled to Italy and remained there for a decade. There, he became infatuated with the Venetian Renaissance masters--particularly Titian--and attempted to emulate their technique. Page’s layering of pigments in this diminutive rendering of a man and a child reflects his interest in Titian’s method of achieving luminosity in his paintings. By loosely applying small strokes of watercolor Page created a sense of informality appropriate to the scale of the work, which has the intimacy of portraits rendered in miniature. The artist’s difficulty in depicting the flesh tones is suggested by the amount of scraping that appears on the faces, but he attended carefully to the details of the upholstery and costumes, both of which contribute to the charm and appealing sentimentality of this closely observed domestic portrait.
The American Wing
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.