Asahel Lynde Powers (American 1813-1843) Portrait of a Boy Studying Geometry.

Asahel Lynde Powers (American, 1813-1843) Portrait of a Boy Studying Geometry. Signed and dated on the reverse "A.L. Powers Painted Oct : 1839," with three small sketches of two heads in profile and a rose also appearing on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in., in a later frame. Condition: Good, small old tear u.r., minor retouch to hair. Literature: This portrait is illustrated in Antiques Magazine, November, 1973, in an article titled "Asahel Powers, painter of Vermont faces," by Nina Fletcher Little, p. 850; written in accordance with the exhibition of Powers's work at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection in Williamsburg, Virginia, which took place in late 1973. Note: Asahel Powers was born on February 28, 1813, in Springfield, Vermont, and began his career as a portrait artist by the time he turned 18. His early works were done on wood panels, later changing to canvas as he traveled farther west. In his early works he used heavy gray shadowing, strong outlines, and boldly painted clothing with detailed accessories. He left New York some time after 1841 to join his parents who settled in Olney, Illinois, and died there on August 23, 1843.