Technical Notes
The support is a plain-weave canvas with considerable cusping along all four edges. An average of fifteen threads per centimeter run horizontally, and thirteen threads per centimeter run vertically. The original fabric has suffered losses all around the edges. There is a ten-centimeter tear at the center right as well as a large puncture in the background to the right of the subject’s head. A glue lining was removed in 1972 and replaced with a wax-resin lining.

The cool gray ground does not hide the texture of the canvas, and the thinly applied design layers allow the ground to show through in the shadows of the face, especially now, due to abrasion. The paint is thickest in the highlights. Some blending of paint occurs, such as in the modeling of the sitter’s torso, but many brushstrokes are distinct, such as in the folds of the dress, indicating that Badger employed both a wet-in-wet technique and a wet-on-dry technique. Some of the darkest painted accents, such as in the shadow of the sleeve and the spaces between the fingers, were added after the general forms were blocked in. Overlapping brushstrokes indicate that most of the background was painted after the figure and that the child’s left hand and pet squirrel were among the last elements to be painted.

Badger first left a reserve for the child’s forearm, which he defined with the same darker paint used for the shadows in the dress. Flesh-colored paint used for the arm overlaps the paint used for the dress. The background, broadly painted and extending up to the edge of the figure, was probably painted after the figure.

The gray ground is visible along parts of the contour of the arm and delineates the edge of the form. A flesh-colored shadow along the inside of the collar was painted after the collar and larger flesh area were completed. This is also seen on the related portrait of Lois Orne.

Past treatment reports indicate that the portrait was treated for extensive cupping and flaking. The paint surface is severely abraded throughout. The left background has been retouched in a manner that overemphasizes the brushstrokes. Examination with a stereomicroscope reveals mild pitting in the paint surface.

There are numerous pinpoint losses throughout, in addition to larger losses in the paint layers at the edges.

The moderately thick varnish consists of brushed and sprayed coats of isobutyl methacrylate, evenly applied in 1972. The varnish appears somewhat matte but shows no signs of discoloration.