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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

Catalogue Entry

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Photo: Unknown
John Philip Kemble as Hamlet (after Thomas Lawrence), 1845 (Hills no. 43.9.1). Kemble as Hamlet, by James Egan after Thomas Lawrence 1838 Etching RP-P-1897-A-19379
Kemble as Hamlet, by James Egan after Thomas Lawrence
1838
Etching
RP-P-1897-A-19379
Photo: Rijksmuseum
[ 43.9 U.S. Early Portrait Drawings after Other Artists ]info
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43.9 U.S. Early Portrait Drawings after Other Artists

Throughout the modern period artists have learned their craft by copying other artists, and Johnson was no exception. Johnson's existing copies after other artists are limited to John Philip Kemble as Hamlet, a mezzotint after Thomas Lawrence. —PH

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Hills no. 43.9.1
John Philip Kemble as Hamlet (after Thomas Lawrence)
Alternate titles: Booth as Hamlet [incorrect]; Hamlet; John Philip Kemble as Hamlet; John Philip Kemble as Hamlet, Act V, Scene I
1845
Charcoal and white on tan paper
19 3/4 x 14 7/8 in. (50.2 x 37.8 cm)
Initialed and dated verso: January 1845/J E J
Thomas French Fine Art, Fairview, Ohio
Description / Remarks

MacGibeny, 2022: Sir Thomas Lawrence's original painting of British actor John Philip Kemble as Hamlet, 1801, was acquired by the National Gallery in London in 1836. Since Johnson had not been to Europe by the time he made this drawing in 1845, it is most likely that he would have made this drawing from a mezzotint print. Philip H. Highfill, Jr., A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800, Vol. 8, 1982, notes that at least fourteen period prints were made after Lawrence's painting. In Johnson's drawing, Kemble's face is truer to Lawrence's painting than are some of the prints, such as the linked etching by James Egan, 1838 (Rijksmuseum).

Provenance
[The Merwin Galleries, New York, March 26, 1914, Catalogue of Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Etc., the Property of P. A. Habenschaden, Esq. of New York City Together with Selections from Other Consignments, no. 58 (as Hamlet, "Crayon Drawing. Height, 21 in.; width, 15 in.")]
Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Rowland, Buckingham, Pennsylvania
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Abraham, West Chester, Pennsylvania
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1974
[Christie's, by September 27, 1989]
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1989
[William Doyle Galleries, New York, December 7, 1999, lot 11 (as John Philip Kemble as Hamlet)]
Don Joint
Skinner, Inc., Boston, September 12, 2008, lot 459 (as John Philip Kemble as Hamlet); did not sell
Thomas French Fine Art, Fairview, Ohio, by April 2017
References
Hall 1931
Hall, Lillian Arvilla. Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits in the Theatre Collection of the Harvard College Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931, pp. 398–99: lists fourteen engravings made after original painting by Lawrence.
Highfill 1982
Highfill, Philip H., Jr. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. Vol. 8. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1982, p. 378: lists fourteen engravings made after original painting by Lawrence.
Garlick 1989
Garlick, Kenneth. Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings. Oxford: Phaidon, 1989, p. 216: notes mezzotint engraving by S. W. Reynolds, 1805, in catalogue entry for original painting by Lawrence.
Folger Shakespeare Library 2022
"John Philip Kemble as Hamlet [graphic] / after Sir Thomas Lawrence." Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, D.C.).
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): September 27, 1989; October 9, 1999
Examination notes: 1989: Dense charcoal - leg disappears under cape. Pick in foreground. Cathedral in background. 1) soulful look - large eyes. Shades and lights - good on face - treated as masses - grainy quality. Lips - Cupid's bow precision - shadow at edge. Touch of white on ruff. Fur nicely detailed.

1999: Anchor bottom right. Typical E.J. eyebrows: light and shadow. Church in distance. Check Lawrence portrait of Kemble as Hamlet.
Hills opinion letter: November 11, 1989 view »
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Kemble, John Philip
Biography:

John Philip Kemble (1757–1823). British actor and theater manager.

Keywords
Record last updated October 17, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "John Philip Kemble as Hamlet (after Thomas Lawrence), 1845 (Hills no. 43.9.1)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?SystemID=1007 (accessed on April 25, 2024).