A Builder of Boats
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 80 × 101.6 cm · framed: 98 × 120 × 11 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
American Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
Accession Number
1972.905
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
Brown's preference for rural subjects in a time when the United States was undergoing rapid industrialization suggests nostalgia for the past. Indeed, Boat Builder, an image of an elderly craftsman working alone with hand tools in a tranquil setting replete with his sleeping dog, offered its contemporary audience a distinct alternative to mechanized factory production.