WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806-1873)

This charming portrait of William Hayes exhibits William Matthew Prior's success in capturing the sweetness and innocence of childhood. Prior followed a successful format in which he included with his subjects an accessory or object that identified their gender or their individual interests, such as the fishing rod seen in the present lot. Prior was able to paint in both an academic painterly manner as well as a more abstract, flat style. This portrait, like most of his portraits of children, is executed in the latter style. Prior advertised “persons wishing for a flat picture can have a likeness without a shade or shadow at one-quarter price” which catered to patrons who wanted to spend less money or time. This approach helped him create a prolific body of work and suggested that Prior consciously choose to paint within a flat stylized manner. For Prior art was a business and he successfully created a formula to attract many types of customers. These flat likeness works were often oil on cardboard or canvas and of a smaller size. The face of the sitter fills the plane and they gaze directly at the viewer. For additional information see Jacquelyn Oak and Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw, Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed (Cooperstown, 2012).