The Artist's Son, Louis

Maker Amédée van Loo (French, ca. 1719 - 1795)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1764

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions23 1/4 x 20 1/8 in. (59.1 x 51.1 cm.)

SignedSigned and dated in lower right of recto: Amedée Van Loo / 1764

InscribedSigned and dated in lower right of recto: Amedée Van Loo / 1764 Inscribed on verso: Louis Vanloo peint par son pere

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextFour-year-old Louis van Loo leans out of an illusionistic oval window to twirl a pinwheel made out of playing cards. Commonplace playthings in the 18th century, pinwheels and playing cards were also conventional signifiers of vanitas, or mortality. The painting can thus be understood on several different levels: as an engaging portrait of a young child, as a charming genre scene of a childhood pastime, and as a meditation on the fleeting joys of youth.

Object number44.105