Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist’s Son

Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist's Son, ca. 1881-1883, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Given in memory of Charles Downing Lay and Laura Gill Lay by their children, 1967.7.4
Copied Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist's Son, ca. 1881-1883, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 1⁄4 in. (40.6 x 31.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Given in memory of Charles Downing Lay and Laura Gill Lay by their children, 1967.7.4
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist’s Son
Artist
Date
ca. 1881-1883
Location
Dimensions
16 x 12 1⁄4 in. (40.6 x 31.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Given in memory of Charles Downing Lay and Laura Gill Lay by their children
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Lay, Charles Downing — bust
  • Portrait male — Lay, Charles Downing — child
Object Number
1967.7.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.7.4

Artwork Description

Charles Downing Lay (1877-1956) was four or five years old when his father painted this portrait. He grew up to be landscape architect for the City of New York and cofounder of one of the first professional journals in his field. Lay won a silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics for his design of Marine Park in Brooklyn. His work helped New York City’s leaders to understand how the public could best make use of park spaces that were created when far fewer people lived in the metropolitan area.