Child with a Whip
by MIERIS, Frans van, the Younger, Oil on canvas, 105 x 75 cm
Although a commissioned work, this portrait of five-year-old �tienne Goujon, the son of a French senator, was painted en plein air and is entirely Impressionistic. The freshness of the summer garden envelops the boy, filling his smock with a play of reflected colours. Only the face, executed with a classically precise line, displays an unchildlike seriousness.