• Antonio Barone
• American, 1889-1971
• "Sleeping Boy"
• Oil on Canvas
• 29 ½ x 23 7/8 inches
• Signed lower left, 1914
• Price on Request

Antonio Barone creates a strong visual atmosphere in Young Boy Sleeping. We are shown, almost secretly, this intimate moment in the young boy’s life. The figure is draped over a couch, with the light accentuating his youth. Not much of the background can be determined as a result of the extreme darkness of the paint. The artist makes use of chiaroscuro to successfully model the figure. This young boy is captured amidst sleep, and the viewer feels the tranquility of the scene. Antonio Barone was born in Valledolmo, Sicily on May 20, 1889. He moved to Le Roy, New York where he began studying art with Ida Taylor, the pupil of William Morris Hunt. He became a member and student of the Art Students League in 1906, where he studied under Frank Vincent DuMond and William Merritt Chase. His social circle exposed him to many talented artists of the time, including Frank Lois Mora, Eugene Speicher, and Georgia O’Keefe. The artist that had the most profound influence on Barone’s work was James A. McNeill Whistler. Barone instantly connected with the subtle tonality and thin surfaces used by Whistler; such influences are seen in Young Boy Sleeping.