The Boy with Arrow

…by the famous artist Douglas Volk

painting by the famous artist douglas volk

This painting by the American artist Douglas Volk (1856-1935) is of a young boy holding a golden arrow. This painting was awarded the Carnegie fund prize for the most meritorious figure painting at the annual exhibition of the Society of American Artists in April, 1903. It was also exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. The boy in the painting is Volk’s own son Leonard during that time in a boy’s life where he is no longer a boy yet not quite a man either. This painting was displayed around the time that Peter Pan was first introduced to the public. It’s thought that Peter Pan had many thinking about this time in a boy’s life called adolescence and might have influenced how popular this painting was at the time.

The painting depicts young Leo sitting in the woods on a large rock while holding an arrow and looking into the distance as if contemplating some major decision. He is dressed as a typical American boy of the period and sits in the shade of a large tree.

To learn more about the artist and view a selection of his other famous paintings, please visit our Douglas Volk Biography