Joseph Fairfax Lapsley
1793-1849
Oil on canvas
51 in x 42 1/8 in
1848
Label:
Joseph Fairfax Lapsley, affectionately known as Little Fax, died tragically before his third birthday. Indeed, Cooke himself never had the chance to see him in person, and instead had to rely on his father as a stand-in; hence, the receding hairline and stiff posture so unusual for a toddler. Little Fax is surrounded by the rich trappings of a boy’s playful life, but also by somber reminders of mortality—the plucked fruit soon to rot and the finger pointing toward the only dead tree in an otherwise lush landscape.
Now On View:
As Published In:
Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection, 2012
As Exhibited In:
Southern Gothic: Literary Intersections with Art, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, October 1, 2026–January 3, 2027, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, February 6–May 16, 2027
Face to Face: 200 Years of Portraiture from the Johnson Collection, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, October 19, 2022–January 7, 2023
From Southern Shores to Northern Vales: Alabama Landscapes, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, November 9, 2019–January 26, 2020
Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, March 1–May 26, 2013, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, January 16–March 23, 2014, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, April 10–July 6, 2014, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, July 25, 2014–February 15, 2015, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC, March 25–May 31, 2015, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC, August 8–November 2, 2015, The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA, November 22, 2015–March 6, 2016, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, August 11–November 6, 2016
Limners to Facebook: Portraiture from the 19th to the 21st Century, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC, February 26–July 18, 2010
Carolina Collects, Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC, June 27–August 17, 2008