Possibly by Henry Walton (American 1804-1865),Portrait of a Boy with his Cat, c. 1835-1840.

Description:

Possibly by Henry Walton (American 1804-1865),

Portrait of a Boy with his Cat, c. 1835-1840. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, full-length portrait depicting the brown-haired gray-eyed boy wearing a green tunic with white collar, white trousers, and black shoes, with one arm holding a ginger tabby cat, 41 1/4 x 26 in., unframed. Condition: Two small tears, u.c, and l.l., varnish inconsistencies.

Note: Information on Henry Walton is sparse, but according to the exhibition catalogue, Henry Walton: 19th Century American Artist, December 9, 1968--January 4, 1969, for the Ithaca College Museum of Art (Cuyahuga Press, 1968),he was the son of the wealthy Judge Henry Walton of New York City, Ballston Spa and Saratoga Springs, New York. Young Henry was probably educated in England, as was his father, and may have received some training in architectural drawing, a skill demonstrated in his views of towns of upstate New York. His earliest works date from 1820. In the late 1830s, he moved to the Finger Lakes region, living in Ithaca for a time, and went to work for the engraving firm of Stone and Clark. During this time, he also began to paint portraits, and typically, painted highly detailed small watercolors. However, after 1839, he began to paint in oil also, but his oil paintings remain much less common than his watercolors and drawings. In 1851, Walton joined a gold rush party and traveled to California. He and his wife, Jane Orr Walton, later moved to Michigan.

Examples of his work can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City),The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (Williamsburg, Virginia),the Shelburne Museum (Shelburne, Vermont),and the Fenimore Art Museum/New York State Historical Society (Cooperstown, New York).
Estimate $40,000-60,000

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