A Boy's Head
Datec. 1921
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 22 × 18 inches (55.9 × 45.7 cm)
Framed: 28 7/8 × 24 7/8 × 1 3/4 inches (73.3 × 63.2 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase.
Object number1921.3
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextThe loose brushwork, piercing eyes, and simple dark background seen in this unfinished portrait of a young boy are all characteristic of Charles Webster Hawthorne’s style of portrait painting. Hawthorne was born in Lodi, Illinois, before his parents relocated to his father’s birthplace in Maine. He studied in New York under William Merritt Chase, his most central influence and a close partner throughout his early career. Eventually, Hawthorne was inspired to form his own rural art colony and did so in 1899, founding the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Hawthorne further developed the Provincetown art community by helping to found the Provincetown Art Association in 1914.