Portrait of a Man and a Boy
c. 1895
Medium
tintype
Dimensions
image/plate: 8.2 × 5.9 cm (3 1/4 × 2 5/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection, Purchased with support from the Ford Foundation
Accession Number
2023.39.102
Art Historical Context
This intimate *Portrait of a Man and a Boy*, created by an anonymous American photographer around 1895, captures a tender moment between generations in a small tintype format—measuring just 8.2 × 5.9 cm. Tintypes, popular from the 1850s to the early 20th century, were a revolutionary wet-collodion process that produced unique, direct-positive images on iron plates coated with collion and silver halides. Affordable and portable, they brought professional-quality photography to everyday Americans, far beyond the reach of cumbersome daguerreotypes or studio elites. As a late-19th-century example...
About the Artist
American 19th Century
The artist cataloged as "American, 19th Century" represents a collective of unidentified painters active in the United States during the nineteenth century, with 380 known artworks preserved in this virtual museum's collection. These works span a diverse array of genres typical of the era, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, reflecting the burgeoning artistic output of ...