Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager
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Photo: © President and Fellows of Harvard College
43.1 U.S. Early Portrait Drawings, Men

The earliest recorded portrait drawing of a known individual by Johnson is Henry Sewell, done in Augusta, Maine, and dated November 26, 1844. Already in 1844, when Johnson was twenty, this work shows the artist's superb use of charcoal (black chalk) to highlight the lights and shadow that capture the three-dimensionality of his sitter. This talent may have been initiated from the time he worked in a lithography shop in Boston, and also the availability of mezzotints. 

The Sewell portrait also shows Johnson’s understanding of anatomy in the sitter’s facial structure. During this period, 1844–1949, Johnson almost always used charcoal (black chalk) for his portraits. Some are half-length portraits including hands, but the majority are heads (and necks) alone. He took about three days to complete a charcoal portrait. The style of the time was to present portraits in oval frames. 

See Technical Information on Johnson's Practices for a discussion of charcoal, black chalk, crayon, and pastel. —PH

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Hills no. 43.1.24
Robert Charles Winthrop
Harvard Art Museums title: Robert C. Winthrop (1809–1894)
1845, January 22
Charcoal and white chalk on buff wove paper
15 x 12 1/4 in. (38.1 x 31.1 cm) (irreg.)
Signed and dated verso, center, in black crayon[?]: J. E. Johnson, del./January 22, 1845
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Record last updated February 14, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Robert Charles Winthrop, 1845, January 22 (Hills no. 43.1.24)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?SystemID=1019 (accessed on March 29, 2024).