Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist’s Son

Media - 1967.7.4 - SAAM-1967.7.4_1 - 49052
Copied Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, Portrait of the Artist's Son, ca. 1881-1883, oil on canvas, 1612 14 in. (40.631.0 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
Date
ca. 1881-1883
Dimensions
1612 14 in. (40.631.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Given in memory of Charles Downing Lay and Laura Gill Lay by their children
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Portrait male — Lay, Charles Downing — child
  • Portrait male — Lay, Charles Downing — bust
Object Number
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.