Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Man standing in a landscape
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Baltimore artist, Alfred Jacob Miller was a prolific sketcher. He filled many journals with drawings and captions from the time he was studying in Paris and Rome (1833) until the 1870's. In 1969 a collection of 100 of these sketches was generously donated to the Walters Art Museum by J. William Middendorf II. The interests of Miller are clearly reflected in these sketches: the theater (a large portion being quick figure drawings of the Ravel Pantomime Troupe), childhood memories, and Baltimore scenes, and witty scenes. (See The Walters Art Gallery Bulletin, April, 1969, Vol. 21, No. 7, Pages 3-4). This drawing reflects racist and class-based stereotypes that helped cement political divisions around the time of the Civil War and after.
"Dis Darkey's monsus fond of doing nuffin - Yah! Yah!" -Miller
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
L. Vernon Miller, by inheritance; Kennedy Galleries, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Mr. and Mrs. J. William Middendorf II, New York; Walters Art Museum, 1973, by gift.
Geographies
USA (Place of Origin)
Measurements
with frame: 12 9/16 x 11 5/8 in. (31.9 x 29.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. William Middendorf II, 1973
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.2510.6