The Cobbler's Apprentice
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Frank_Duveneck_-_The_Cobbler%E2%80%99s_Apprentice.jpg/220px-Frank_Duveneck_-_The_Cobbler%E2%80%99s_Apprentice.jpg)
The Cobbler's Apprentice is a painting by the American painter Frank Duveneck, painted in 1877.[1] It hangs in the Taft Museum of Art of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.[2] The oil on canvas portrait measures 38.5 by 26.75 inches (978 mm × 679 mm) and it is signed by the artist.[3][4]
Duveneck painted The Cobbler's Apprentice in Munich, Germany, where at the time he was regarded as a leading American artist.[3][5]
Description
The subject of The Cobbler's Apprentice is a boy, shown three-quarters-length, and turned three quarters to the right. He is holding a large basket to his right side while he blows smoke from a cigar held in his left hand.[3]
Provenance
The painting was sold in Munich for $25 to one Mr. von Hessling, the American Vice Consul, was for a time owned by Mr. Joseph Stransky of New York, and was finally acquired into the collection of Mr. Charles Phelps Taft.[6][7]
In popular culture
The painting was parodied in the 2011 mural The Cobbler's Apprentice Plays Ball on The Banks near the Great American Ball Park.[8] Instead of holding a cigar and a basket of vegetables, the boy now appears holding a baseball bat.[9]
References
- ^ "The Cobbler's Apprentice". The Athenaeum. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ "Frank Duveneck's "The Cobbler's Apprentice"". Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ a b c Charles Phelps Taft; Maurice Walter Brockwell (1920). A Catalogue of Paintings in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft at Cincinnati, Ohio. Priv. print. p. 192.
- ^ "The Cobbler's Apprentice". Taft Museum of Art. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ Mary Sayre Haverstock; Jeannette Mahoney Vance; Brian L. Meggitt (2000). Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: A Biographical Dictionary. Kent State University Press. p. 250.
- ^ Heermann, Norbert (1918). Frank Duveneck. Houghton Mifflin. p. 52.
- ^ Art and Archaeology, Volume 8. Archaeological Institute of America. 1919. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ "The Cobbler's Apprentice Plays Ball". Downtown Cincinnati Inc. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^ Demaline, Jackie (Sep 19, 2011). "Mural at Banks goes to bat for Duveneck". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.