Portrait of a Boy
Framed: 30 3/4 × 27 1/4 × 3 1/4 inches (78.11 × 69.22 × 8.26 cm)
- 125
Sculpture by Houdon, Paintings and Drawings by David, The Century Association, New York, February 19–April 10, 1947, no. 25, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
D-Day Anniversary Celebration, City Manager’s Office, City Hall, Kansas City, MO, ca. June 6, 1947, erroneously as by Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
The Century of Mozart, The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO, January 15–March 4, 1956, no. 22, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Boy.
The French Portrait: Revolution to Restoration, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, September 30–December 11, 2005, no. 39, as attributed to Marie Françoise Constance Mayer La Martinière, Portrait of a Boy.
An adolescent boy gazes steadily at the viewer. His rosy complexion and unblemished skin emphasize his youthfulness, but his costume resembles that of an adult male, as was typical of children’s fashion in this period. The boy’s small hoop earring—his only accessory—enjoyed a particular vogue in turn-of-the-century France.
Although the artist and sitter have yet to be identified, the technique and type of subject suggest that this likeness was painted by Constance Mayer, a Parisian female portraitist.
Possibly Ambroise Joseph Loyer (1842–1922), Paris and Bièvres, France, by February 25, 1922 [1];
Possibly inherited by his son Maurice Alexandre Marie Joseph Loyer (1869–1954), Paris and Bièvres, France, February 25, 1922–1930 [2];
Purchased from Loyer by Wildenstein Gallery, New York, stock no. 1059d, June 1930–January 28, 1931 [3];
Purchased from Wildenstein by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931.
NOTES
[1] According to correspondence from Eliot Rowlands, Wildenstein and Company, Inc., to Meghan L. Gray, May 12, 2011; and to Glynnis Napier Stevenson, April 12, 2022, NAMA curatorial files, Wildenstein purchased the painting from “M. Loyer, Bièvres.” This probably refers to Maurice Alexandre Marie Joseph Loyer (1869–1954), who may have inherited the painting from his father, Ambroise Joseph Loyer (1842–1922), an antiques dealer. The elder Loyer served as mayor of Bièvres from 1904 to 1908, and he also purchased and refurbished the château de la Martinière in 1890 (which Maurice inherited at his father’s death). In 1886, on his son’s birth certificate, Ambroise is listed as a “restaurateur de tableaux” (paintings restorer), and in 1898 as an “antiquaire” (antiques dealer). See Paris, France, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1555–1929, 6e arrondissement, 1869, naissances, no. 2477; and 01er arrondissement, 1898, mariages, no. 653; both digitized on Ancestry.com.
In 1905, members of the Société Historique du VIe Arrondissement de Paris toured Ambroise Loyer’s art collection. See Charles Saunier, “Le Collection de M. Loyer,” Bulletin de la Société historique du VIe arrondissement de Paris 8 (1905): 142. Saunier noted that Loyer’s collection included a portrait of a child by Greuze (“portrait d’enfant par Greuze”). Given the murky history of the attribution of the artist, it is possible Saunier is referencing Portrait of a Boy.
[2] Maurice Loyer was an antiques dealer like his father, and he was a lawyer for the Court of Appeals in Paris from at least 1898 until at least 1904. He was a devoted amateur anthropologist as well as Secretary-General of the Anthropological Society of Paris. In 1926, he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. His name can be found among the lenders in some exhibitions, including Explication des peintures, gravures, miniatures, et autres ouvrages de femmes peintres du XVIIIe siècle exposés au profit de l’Appui Maternel (Hôpital Tarnier) (an exhibition of eighteenth-century art by female painters) at Paris’s Hôtel des négociants en objets d’art, tableaux et curiosités in 1926.
In 1924, Loyer co-organized an exhibition of historic frames, to which he also lent objects. One of them seems to match the frame on the Nelson-Atkins painting when the museum acquired it from Wildenstein. See Arthur Sambon and Maurice Loyer, Exposition du Cadre Ancien du XIVe au XIXe Siècle au Profit de l’œuvre Toute l’Enfance en Plein Air, exh. cat. (Mâcon, France: Imprimerie de Protat frères, 1924), 15, under no. 60.
[3] Letter from Eliot Rowlands, Wildenstein and Company, Inc., to Meghan L. Gray, May 12, 2011, NAMA curatorial files.
Possibly Charles Saunier, “Le Collection de M. Loyer,” Bulletin de la Société historique du VIe arrondissement de Paris 8 (1905): 142, possibly as “portrait d’enfant par Greuze.”
“A Big Gallery Addition: Rembrandt and Hals Paintings to Nelson Group,” Kansas City Star 51, no. 148 (February 12, 1931): 3, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“Half-Million for Art: A Rembrandt in New Purchases for Nelson Gallery,” Kansas City Star 51, no. 156 (February 20, 1931): 3, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“Nelson’s Museum Gets Scores of Old Masters,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune 65, no. 350 (February 20, 1931): 2, erroneously as by David.
“Kansas City Gets $1,000,000 Art Here: William Rockhill Nelson Trust Buys Paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, and Others; Guelph Objects Included; Treasures to be Placed in New Structure Being Built by Publisher’s Endowment,” New York Times 80, no. 26,690 (February 20, 1931): 16, erroneously as by David.
“Camera Records News Events Here and in Other Parts of the World,” Kansas City Journal-Post 77, no. 284 (March 18, 1931): 26, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Add Seven Artworks: Group for Nelson Gallery on View at Institute,” Kansas City Star 51, no. 182 (March 18, 1931): 15, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Art,” Kansas City Times 94, no. 67 (March 19, 1931): 7, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“More Works of Art Purchased for the Nelson Gallery of Art,” Kansas City Star 51, no. 186 (March 22, 1931): unpaginated, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Parsons Makes More Purchases for Kansas City,” Art News 29, no. 26 (March 28, 1931): 3, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Boy in a Blue Jacket.
“He Married the Cook and Painted No More,” Art Digest 5, no. 15 (May 1, 1931): 6, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“What to See In Kansas City: A Guide to Principal Points of Interest Presented in the Style of A Baedeker,” Kansas City Star 52, no. 101 (December 27, 1931): 3C, as Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Treasure in Lore of Art: ‘Read,’ says Parsons to Those Who Would Appreciate Works,” Kansas City Times 95, no. 10 (January 12, 1932): 2, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“Nelson Art Treasures Draw Admiring Throng: Thousands Flock to Temporary Exhibition of Paintings at the Kansas City Art Institute Every Day,” Weekly Kansas City Star 42, no. 48 (January 27, 1932): 4, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“M. Claudel in Rich Land: A Desire to See Harvest Expressed by Ambassador,” Kansas City Times 95, no. 70 (March 22, 1932): 11, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“Nelson Gallery of Art Special Number,” Art Digest 8, no. 5 (December 1, 1933): 13, 21, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Complete Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings,” Art News 32, no. 10 (December 9, 1933): 28, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
Alfred M. Frankfurter, “Paintings in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art,” Art News 32, no. 10 (December 9, 1933): 30, 44, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
Minna K. Powell, “The First Exhibition of the Great Art Treasures: Paintings and Sculpture, Tapestries and Panels, Period Rooms and Beautiful Galleries Are Revealed in the Collections Now Housed in the Nelson-Atkins Museum,” Kansas City Star 54, no. 84 (December 10, 1933): 4C, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Nelson Gallery of Art Opened at Kansas City: $14,000,000 Gift of ‘Star’ Publisher and His Heirs Already Fully Furnished; Has Many Innovations; Oriental, Roman, Colonial Objects World Famous,” New York Herald Tribune 93, no. 31,802 (December 11, 1933): 12, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
Luigi Vaiani, “Art Dream Becomes Reality with Official Gallery Opening at Hand: Critic Views Wide Collection of Beauty as Public Prepares to Pay its First Visit to Museum,” Kansas City Journal-Post 80, no. 187 (December 11, 1933): 7, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“Praises the Gallery: Dr. Nelson M’Cleary, Noted Artist, a Visitor,” Kansas City Star 54, no. 98 (December 24, 1933): 9A, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Boy.
The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Handbook of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Art, 1933), 41, 48, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
A. J. Philpott, “Kansas City Now in Art Center Class: Nelson Gallery, Just Opened, Contains Remarkable Collection of Paintings, Both Foreign and American,” Boston Sunday Globe 125, no. 14 (January 14, 1934): 16, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
“One of the most important purchases,” Musical Bulletin 24, no. 6 (March 1936): 11, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Young Boy.
The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, The William Rockhill Nelson Collection, 2nd ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1941), 168, as Portrait of a Young Boy.
“Loans to Other Museums,” Gallery News (The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) 13, no. 7 (April 1947): unpaginated, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“To Mark D-Day: French Paintings are Shown,” Kansas City Times 110, no. 122 (June 6, 1947): 1, erroneously as by Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
Sculpture by Houdon, Paintings and Drawings by David, exh. cat. (New York: Century Association, 1947), unpaginated, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
French XVIIIth Century Paintings, exh. cat. (New York: Wildenstein, 1948), unpaginated, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
“The Century of Mozart: January 15 through March 4, 1956,” exh. cat., special issue, Bulletin (The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum) 1, no. 1 (January 1956): 26, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Boy.
Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 117, (repro.), erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
Maurice Grosser, “Art,” Nation 191 (July 9, 1960): 38 [repr. Maurice Grosser, Critic’s Eye (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1962), 181], erroneously as by Jacques Louis David.
Robert K. Sanford, “Two Books—Photos and Criticism,” Kansas City Star 82, no. 273 (June 17, 1962): 10E.
Georges Wildenstein, David (Paris: Les Beaux-Arts, 1963), pp. 104, 242, no. 133, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait d’enfant (Jeune Créole?) [not officially published; available here https://view.publitas.com/wildenstein-plattner-institute-ol46yv9z6qv6/c-r_louis_david_wildenstein_institute_not_published/page/10-11].
John J. Doohan, “Forty Years Ago,” Kansas City Times 103, no. 165 (March 18, 1971): 14D.
Donald Hoffmann, “The Nelson Gallery 40 Years (and More) Seeking Beauty,” Kansas City Star 94, no. 83 (December 9, 1973): 4E, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Young Boy.
Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 258, erroneously as by Jacques Louis David, Portrait of a Young Boy.
Donald Hoffmann, “Throwing Suspicion on the Masters: Nelson’s Curator Reassesses Status, Authenticity of Art,” Kansas City Star 107, no. 263 (July 26, 1987): 1D, 6D, (repro.), as Portrait of a Young Boy.
Margaret A. Oppenheimer, The French Portrait: Revolution to Restoration, exh. cat. (Northampton, MA: Smith College Museum of Art, 2005), 154–57, 219, (repro.), as attributed to Marie Françoise Constance Mayer La Martinière, Portrait of a Boy.
Kathryn Calley Galitz, “Attributed to Adèle Romany, Portrait of a Boy, 1799,” catalogue entry and Susan Pavlik Enterline, “Attributed to Adèle Romany, Portrait of a Boy, 1799,” technical entry in French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025), https://doi.org/10.37764/78973.5.420.
