BETSY BROUN: A few years ago when the museum considered buying this painting called “The Sick Child” by J. Bond Francisco, some people thought the subject was just too sentimental, too Victorian and schmaltzy. We acquired it anyway because in the early 20th century, it was one of the most famous American paintings anywhere. The artist kept it in his studio until he died in 1931, but thousands of reproductions had been made of it and displayed in doctors offices all across the country.
“The Sick Child” was familiar to every parent who ever had a desperately ill child, and that was pretty much everyone. In the 19th century, most parents had the upsetting experience of watching all night long by the bed of a child flushed with fever, unsure what tomorrow would bring. Thanks to antibiotics, most parents don’t have this experience anymore. In this picture, the artist leaves us in doubt about whether the feverish boy will survive or not. He looks ready, but that’s probably just the high fever. The title only says that the boy is sick. Decades later, the painting was called “The Convalescent,” but the artist didn’t give it that title, and it certainly takes the suspense out of this subject. What can we tell about how this situation will turn out?
The mother expresses all the tension of worry and doubt. Her tiny glasses reinforce and focus her gaze in the direction of her son. Her needles and hands underscore her anxiety. The artist knew that in classical mythology the Fates are shown as women spinning the thread of life. This image of a mother knitting up the thread of life was well known to Francisco’s audience. The medicinal still life at left is carefully poised. The very careful balancing of glass, card, and spoon suggests the delicate equilibrium they hope these treatments will achieve. The burned matches strike an ominous note, perhaps foretelling that the spark of life will soon be extinguished. A mother’s vigilance and the doctor’s nostrums flank the child.
Halfway between them is the most alarming expect of the picture: the clown toy, one that clashes cymbals when wound up. It’s the brightest element in the painting, and it occupies the center of the canvas, so we know it’s important. The way the boy holds it upside down by a single leg, and indeed the very idea of a clown image evokes the unpredictability of life and its fragility. The outcome of this drama is very much in doubt.
J. Bond Francisco studied violin and painting for three years in Europe. Soon after his return to Los Angeles, he painted “The Sick Child” and sent it to the great 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was a sensation at the exposition and always remained one of the painter's own favorites. At his memorial service in the 1930s, six former students played chamber music while tears streamed down their faces. A speaker quoted Francisco’s favorite comment: “The best things in life are the friends it brings you, but let’s not get too sentimental.”
