biography of Eastman JOHNSON (1824-1906)

Birth place: Lowell, ME

Death place: NYC

Addresses: NYC/Nantucket, MA (after 1869)

Profession: Genre and portrait painter

Studied: Düsseldorf, 1849-51; France; Italy; Holland, at The Hague, 1851-55

Exhibited: NAD, 1861-1900; Brooklyn AA, 1861-80, 1887; Boston Athenaeum; PAFA Ann., 1862-63, 1877, 1893-94, 1899-1902; Boston AC, 1877-1903; AIC; Paris Expo, 1889 (medal), 1900 (medal); Carnegie Inst., 1898-1901; Pan-Am. Expo, Buffalo, 1901 (gold); St. Louis Expo, 1904 (gold).

Member: ANA, 1859; NA,1860; SAA, 1881; Century Assn.

Work: NMAA; NGA; MMA; BMFA; NYHS ("The Old Kentucky Home"); Brooklyn Museum ("A Ride for Liberty-The Fugitive Slaves"); Timkin Gal., San Diego, CA ("The Cranberry Harvest"); Milwaukee (WI) Art Center; Amon Carter Mus.; Corcoran Gal. Art; White House; NYPL; Shelburne (VT) Mus.

Comments: Jonathan Eastman Johnson (he rarely used his first name) spent much of his childhood in Augusta, ME, where his father served as Maine's Sec. of State. After studying lithography in Bufford's shop for about a year, Johnson took up crayon portraiture with great success, working from 1841-49 in Augusta, ME; Cambridge, MA; Newport, RI; and Wash., DC. From 1849-51, he shared a studio with with E. Leutze in Dusseldorf and studied there. From 1851-55, he studied at the Hague where he was known as the "American Rembrandt" and offered the post of Court Painter. Upon his return Johnson painted in Wisconsin (1856, 1857), Cincinnati (1858), and Wash., DC, before settling permanently in NYC about 1859. During the 1860s, Johnson championed southern African-Americans as his subject matter, and in Wash., DC painted his famous The Old Kentucky Home" which won him election to the National Academy. In the 1870s, he began making visits to Nantucket, MA, an island that provided the subjects for many of his best rural genre paintings. After the 1880s interest in his genre pictures waned, and he turned to portraiture of the rich and famous (John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson) with considerable success. In 1907, his collection was sold at auction (American Art Gal., NYC).

Sources: G&W; WW06; John I.H. Baur, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824-1906, includes a biographical sketch, exhibition catalogue and 42 plates; Johnson's work in Nantucket is detailed in Everett U. Crosby, Eastman Johnson at Nantucket, with checklist and numerous plates. See also: DAB; Karolik Cat.; Swan, BA; Cowdrey, NAD; Cowdrey, AA & AAU; Rutledge, PA; Baur, "Eastman Johnson, Artist-Reporter"; Heilbron, "A Pioneer Artist on Lake Superior." More recently, see Baigell, Dictionary; Patricia Hills, The Genre Painting of Eastman Johnson; P & H Samuels, 254-55; Muller, Paintings and Drawings at the Shelburne Museum, 85 (w/repros.); 300 Years of American Art, vol. 1, 209; Falk, Exh. Record Series. "