Portrait of a Boy 1889

Robert Lewis Reid painted this portrait of a boy, and there are two dominant symbols that can be noted. Firstly, the boy's gaze directs to the right, a common Renaissance and Baroque trope to suggest contemplation and forward-thinking. Yet here, the artist has painted the child with a somewhat plain affect, suggesting an internal rumination rather than an external expectation of the future. Secondly, the garment and hair may be analyzed through a gender-historical context. It can be said that the boy's dress and hairstyle blur traditional gender lines. Consider how the "bob cut" hairstyle became iconic for women in the 1920s, symbolizing freedom and modernity. In a similar vein, this is echoed in the boy’s ruffled clothing, somewhat effeminate for the time. This challenges the idea of gender as a fixed identity, prompting a deeper, subconscious resonance with viewers who grapple with societal norms and expectations. The collective memory of gender roles surfaces here, engaging viewers on a subconscious level with the powerful, cyclical shifts in how gender is perceived and expressed throughout time.