J. G. Brown

Pickwick House, Los Angeles (acquired circa 1941)

Private Collection, Los Angeles (acquired from the above)

Private Collection, Los Angeles

Roughton Galleries, Dallas (acquired in February 2007 from the above)

Acquired from the above in September 2007 by the present owner

Martha Hoppin, The World of J.G. Brown, Chesterfield, Massachusetts, 2010, pp. 143, 145, 247, and 252, illustrated in color

New York, The Century Association, Monthly Exhibition, April 1877, no. 4, p. 178

Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1877 (titled Le Jour de Saint Patrice)

Brimming with warmth and tenderness, J.G. Brown’s St. Patrick's Day displays the artist’s mastery of figuration. As is typical with the Brown's portraiture, the figures’ clothing is rendered in remarkably detailed textures, patterns, and colors. In 19th-century New York, young boys who made a living shining shoes on the street, deemed “bootblacks,” populated the city and were featured frequently as Brown’s primary subject, as in the present work. Unlike the larger group portraits and city street settings, St. Patrick’s Day tells a more intimate story between the two figures. 

Brown depicts a moment of affection as the young girl pins a small green ribbon onto the beaming shoe shiner. The young boy smiles out at the viewer and clutches a green flag that reads “Erin Go Bragh,” a phrase used in Ireland to express loyalty to the country. A framed image of Saint Patrick is hung on the wall behind the two children, underscoring the domestic view of an age-old celebration. Thus, St. Patrick’s Day is a rare example in which Brown brings his subjects inside the home, revealing their interior lives as opposed to featuring their street vending. St. Patrick’s Day combines the intimacy of Brown’s single figure portraits with the narrative quality of his group genre paintings, introducing a more personal setting to emphasize the emotional quality of the scene.