The Cobbler's Apprentice Explained

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 38.5x 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.^[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.

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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Cobbler's Apprentice . The Athenaeum . 7 April 2014.
2. Web site: Frank Duveneck's "The Cobbler's Apprentice" . Ohio Historical Society . 7 April 2014.
3. Book: A Catalogue of Paintings in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft at Cincinnati, Ohio . Priv. print. . Charles Phelps Taft . Maurice Walter Brockwell . 1920 . 192.
4. Web site: The Cobbler's Apprentice . Taft Museum of Art . 30 June 2011 . 7 April 2014.
5. Book: Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900: A Biographical Dictionary . Kent State University Press . Mary Sayre Haverstock . Jeannette Mahoney Vance . Brian L. Meggitt . 2000 . 250. 9780873386166 .
6. Book: Frank Duveneck . Houghton Mifflin . Heermann, Norbert . 1918 . 52.
7. Book: Art and Archaeology, Volume 8 . Archaeological Institute of America . 1919 . 7 April 2014.
8. Web site: The Cobbler's Apprentice Plays Ball . Downtown Cincinnati Inc. . 7 April 2014.
9. Web site: Mural at Banks goes to bat for Duveneck . Cincinnati.com . Sep 19, 2011 . 7 April 2014 . Demaline, Jackie.