Young Man of the Tuke Family

Artist Joseph Badger (American, 1708-1765)

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1745

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 26 3/4 x 22 1/8 in. (67.9 x 56.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 32 3/8 x 27 7/8 x 2 1/4 in. (82.2 x 70.8 x 5.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Object number74.6.14

Not on view

DescriptionOil on canvas painting of a young man in a blue suit, holding a gray cat.
Label TextJoseph Badger American, 1708—1765 Young Man of the Tuke Family, ca. 1745 Oil on canvas Though little is known about the subject of this portrait, the artist has captured the young man poised at the boundary between youth and adulthood in a charming and straightforward manner that overcomes any awkwardness sometimes associated with this transitional stage in life. Despite his dapper suit, the young man’s tender expression and gentle embrace of his feline friend give away his young age. Joseph Badger was a self-taught artist who began his career as a sign painter and eventually developed into one of Boston’s leading portraitists of the mid-eighteenth century. Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch 74.6.14 ProvenanceGift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch to Chrysler Museum of Art, 1974.Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Man's Best Friends," Selden Arcade, Norfolk, VA, August 27 - October 19, 2013. "Democratic Designs: American Folk Paintings from the Chrysler Museum," Willoughby-Baylor House, Norfolk, VA, August 16, 2014 - April 5, 2015.