A leading satiric genre painter of his time, David Blythe did work that often commented on the American court system and also depicted poverty-stricken street children. He was born in East Liverpool, Ohio to Irish and Scottish parents. He had little formal art training but at age 16, apprenticed to Joseph Woodwell, a woodcarver from Pittsburgh. He also observed artists' work in a local gathering place owned by J.J. Gillespie.

From 1837 to 1840, he was a ship's carpenter and traveled to Boston and the West Indies and then became an itinerant portrait painter from 1841 to 1845. He traveled throughout Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio and during this time began painting scenes of city life. This work...