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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: Courtesy of Everson Museum of Art
Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time, 1860 (Hills no. 13.1.1). Frame
Frame
Photo: Patricia Hills
Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time, 1860 (Hills no. 13.1.1). Detail with inscription
Detail with inscription
Photo: Patricia Hills
Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time, 1860 (Hills no. 13.1.1). Detail with inscription
Detail with inscription
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time, 1860 (Hills no. 13.1.1). Plaque, in Everson Museum object file
Plaque, in Everson Museum object file
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
13.1 Maine Rustic/Farm, 1860s—Figures in Barns

In the nineteenth century, attitudes towards work changed, especially in the northern states of America. Although some artists made fun of “country bumpkins,” in general, farm work and farmers began to take on greater prestige and admiration. During the 1860s, Johnson returned to his birthplace in Maine to make studies of maple sugar production and also to seek out subjects of a rural life far removed from slavery. Barn interiors and home interiors show the families of farmers husking corn, winnowing grain, of taking a smoke. Exteriors show farmers at harvest time, loggers cutting trees or simply relaxing. In choosing scenes of rural white America Johnson was following in the tradition of Francis William Edmonds, George H. Durrie, Tompkins H. Matteson, and William Sidney Mount—a tradition popularized by the prints of Currier and Ives. —PH

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Hills no. 13.1.1
Baur no. 91
Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time
Everson Museum of Art title: Corn Husking
Alternate titles: likely Corn Huskers; likely Corn Shucking; A Corn Husking; Corn-Husking Down East; Cornhusking; Husking; The Corn Husking
1860
Locale: Maine
Oil on canvas
26 x 30 in. (66 x 76.2 cm)
Signed and dated lower right on door crossbar: E. Johnson 1860
Description / Remarks

Hills, 2021: The inscription on the door, "Lincoln/[?]/Hamlon [sic]," is a reference to the U.S. presidential election of 1860, in which Hannibal Hamlin was Abraham Lincoln's running mate. In the Currier & Ives print of this painting, the wording is changed to "The Union Forever," the slogan of the Lincoln-Hamlin campaign.

Vanity Fair, April 16, 1861, "More Glances at the Gallery":

No 223 Husking—Eastman Johnson.

Fie! fie! Mr. Artist! where are your “red
     ears!”
“A Husking” without pretty girls to be
     kiss’d, man?
“All talk and no cider?”—why, really’ one 
     fears,
If you cannot do better, you must go down
     East–man.

["No. 223" refers to the painting's number in the 1861 exhibition at the National Academy of Design.]

Provenance
Likely J. B. Kellogg, 1862 (as Corn Shucking)
Likely P. V. Kellogg, Utica, New York, by 1867 until at least 1876
Hon. Andrew D. White, Ithaca, New York, until 1918
Everson Museum of Art (formerly The Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts), Syracuse, New York, November 21, 1918 (by bequest)
Exhibitions
1861 Brooklyn Art Association
Brooklyn Art Association, Brooklyn, New York, February 19, 1861, as Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time.
1861 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, March 20–April 25, 1861. (NAD 1861), no. 223, as Husking.
1861 Young Men's Association, Buffalo
Young Men's Association, Buffalo, New York, December 24, 1861, no. 153, [possibly, as Husking].
1862 PAFA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Spring 1862. (Exhibition catalogue: PAFA 1862), no. 44, as Corn Husking, owner Eastman Johnson.
1862 Young Men's Association, Troy
Young Men's Association, Troy, New York, 1862, no. 15, [likely, as Corn Shucking, owner J. B. Kellogg].
1867 Utica Art Association
Utica Art Association, Utica, New York, 1867, no. 36, [likely, as Corn Huskers, owner P. V. Kellogg].
1873 Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition
Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition, Chicago, 1873. (Chicago Inter-State 1873), no. 55, as Corn-Husking Down East, owner Kellogg.
1876 Chicago Inter-State
Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition, Chicago, 1876, no. 266, [likely, as Corn Husking, owner P. V. Kellogg].
1883 Munich
Munich, International Art Exhibition, May 1883.
1883a American Art Galleries
American Art Galleries, New York, Works Selected to be Shown at International Art Exhibition in Munich, May 19–23, 1883, as The Corn Husking.
1903 Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club, Boston, January 3–31, 1903. (Boston Art Club 1903), no. 119, as A Corn Husking.
1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904, no. 401, as Corn Husking.
1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as The Corn Husking.
1935 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, American Genre: The Social Scene in Paintings and Prints (1800–1935), March 26–April 29, 1935. (Whitney Museum 1935), no. 64.
1935 M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, Exhibition of American Painting, June 7–July 7, 1935, no. 154.
1935 University of Rochester
University of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York, American Life in a Century of American Art, November 1935, no. 25.
1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 91, b/w illus., Pl. IV, as Corn Husking.
1939 Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Life in America: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings Held during the Period of the New York World's Fair, April 24–October 29, 1939, no. 159, lent by The Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.
1940 San Francisco Bay Exposition Co.
San Francisco Bay Exposition Co, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, Golden Gate International Exposition, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: S. F. Bay Exposition Co. 1940).
1965 Everson Museum
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, American Painting from 1830: A Loan Exhibition Organized Around Selections from the Everson Museum Collection of American Paintings, December 3, 1965–January 16, 1966, no. 20.
1967 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, The Painter and the New World, June 9–July 30, 1967. (Exhibition catalogue: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 1967), no. 260, as Corn Husking.
1972 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 28, color illus., p. 41, as Corn Husking. Traveled to: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, June 7–July 22, 1972; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, August 15–September 30, 1972; Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, October 20–December 3, 1972.
1974 Meredith Long & Company
Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Tradition and Innovation: American Paintings 1860–1870 (A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of The Houston Museum of Fine Arts), January 10–25, 1974. (Meredith Long & Company 1974), no. 22.
1974 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, The Painters' America, Rural and Urban Life, 1810–1910, September 20–November 10, 1974. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1974), no. 60, illus., as Corn Husking. Traveled to: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, December 5, 1974–January 19, 1975; Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, February 10–March 30, 1975.
1981 Terra Museum of American Art
Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, Life in 19th Century America: An Exhibition of Genre Painting, September 11–November 15, 1981. (Terra Museum of American Art 1981), no. 50.
1999 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, Eastman Johnson: Painting America, October 29, 1999–February 6, 2000. (Exhibition catalogue: Carbone and Hills 1999), no. 25, as Corn Husking. Traveled to: San Diego Museum of Fine Arts, San Diego, February 25–May 21, 2000; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, June 8–September 10, 2000.
2018 Everson Museum
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, Visions of America, May 12–August 19, 2018.
References
NAD 1861
New York: National Academy of Design, 1861. Exhibition catalogue (1861 NAD), no. 223, as Husking.
The Albion 1861
"Fine Arts." The Albion (New York) 39, no. 15 (April 13, 1861), p. 177: “In the room we have just left we observed Mr. Johnson’s ‘Husking,’ no. 223, and therein also [as in Johnson's The Papers—Portraits] we thought we detected the moral, if so it may be called—age and youth and infancy finding each its representatives; but we have nothing to say of it as a whole, save that it does not commend itself to our taste," as Husking.
Vanity Fair 1861
"More Glances at the Gallery." Vanity Fair 3 (April 6, 1861), p. 159, as Husking, poem written in response to painting's exhibition in 1861 at the National Academy of Design.
PAFA 1862
Catalogue of the Thirty-Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1862. Exhibition catalogue (1862 PAFA), p. 6, no. 44, as Corn Husking, owner Artist.
New York Herald 1883
"Fine Arts: The American Contribution to the Munich International Exhibition." New York Herald, May 19, 1883, p. 5, as The Corn Husking.
Boston Art Club 1903
Boston Art Club Sixty-Seventh Exhibition: Oil Paintings and Sculpture. Boston: Boston Art Club, 1903. Exhibition catalogue (1903 Boston Art Club), n.p., no. 119, as A Corn Husking.
Beckwith 1906
Beckwith, Carroll. "Eastman Johnson—His Life and Works." Scribner's Magazine 40, no. 2 (August 1906), p. 254 [possibly, as Corn Husking].
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 13, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson," as Corn Husking.
Rourke 1935
Rourke, Constance. "American Art: A Possible Future." American Magazine of Art (New York) 28, no. 7 (July 1935), p. 398, illus., as Corn Husking.
Whitney Museum 1935
American Genre: The Social Scene in Paintings and Prints (1800–1935). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1935. Exhibition catalogue (1935 Whitney Museum), p. 19, no. 64.
Baur 1940
Baur, John I. H. An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1940. Exhibition catalogue (1939 Brooklyn Museum), pp. 39–40, 64, no. 91, illus. Pl. IV, as Corn Husking.
Crosby 1944
Crosby, Everett U. Eastman Johnson at Nantucket: His Paintings and Sketches of Nantucket People and Scenes. Nantucket, MA, 1944, pp. 20, 65, C.60A, illus., as Corn Husking.
Everson Museum of Art 1965
American Painting from 1830. Syracuse, NY: Everson Museum of Art, 1965, no. 20, p. 37–38, illus.
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 1967
The Painter and the New World. Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1967. Exhibition catalogue (1967 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), no. 260, as Corn Husking.
Hills 1972a
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), no. 28, p. 41, illus., as Corn Husking.
Hills 1974
Hills, Patricia. The Painters' America: Rural and Urban Life, 1810–1910. New York: Praeger, 1974. Exhibition catalogue (1974 Whitney Museum), p. 32, fig. 36, illus., as Corn Husking.
Meredith Long & Company 1974
Tradition and Innovation: American Paintings 1860–1870. Houston, TX: Meredith Long & Company, 1974. Exhibition catalogue (1974 Meredith Long & Company), no. 22, frontispiece and p. 34, illus.
Terra Museum of American Art 1981
Life in 19th Century America. Evanston, IL: Terra Museum of American Art, 1981. Exhibition catalogue (1981 Terra Museum of American Art), no. 50, p. 25, illus.
Hesselman 1998
Hesselman, Dorothy. "Talking It Over: A Patriotic Genre Painting by Enoch Wood Perry." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1998), p. 298, as Corn Husking.
Carbone and Hills 1999
Carbone, Teresa A., and Patricia Hills. Eastman Johnson: Painting America. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 Brooklyn Museum), p. 51, no. 25, as Corn Husking.
Douglass 1999
Douglass, Julie M. "Lifetime Exhibition History." In Eastman Johnson: Painting America, by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 260, 261 [likely], 262 [likely], 263, 266.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-02-23; 1971-02-25; 2018-06-26
Examination notes: Really gets away from the Biedermeier quality of the Matteson painting. Open barn door at left, cf. Mount. Left and right figure groups set against piles of corn husks. Door shows through dog. (Overzealous cleaning or paint has become transparent with age?) Gray trousers and white shirt—Couture-like granular impasto (scumbling). Yellow husks contrast to sienna glazes of background. Bright yellow corn. Check man with top hat—figure in Buffalo drawing? Figures dimly seen in the background - also apparently husking. Red shawl on woman at right balanced by red skirt on child at left. Shoes of left man [~ Buffalo drawing] [see card for sketch of shoe]. Mrs.(?) Plonski, Mr. Bower. Girl: paw-like hands. Lines on all principal figures. Gray chicken in roost. Free brushstrokes in foreground—however, strictly a local color painting in spite of lack of Biedermeier fussiness.
Keywords
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Photo: Yale University Art Gallery
Husking [lithograph by Charles Severin; published by Currier & Ives]
1861
Lithograph, hand colored
Image: 20 7/8 x 27 5/16 in. (53 x 69.4 cm)
Sheet: 23 11/16 x 29 1/2 in. (60.2 x 74.9 cm)
Printed lower left: PAINTED BY EASTMAN JOHNSON._ON STONE BY C. SEVERIN.; LITH.CURRIER & IVES, NEW YORK.; lower center: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1861 by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York/HUSKING./NEW YORK. PUBLISHED BY CURRIER & IVES, 152 NASSAU STREET
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., Mabel Brady Garvan Collection (1946.9.1438)

Also owned by: American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts (493493); Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas (179.70); Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts (2004.D03.556); Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1526.557); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (33.914)

See all Prints after Works by Johnson.

Record last updated June 2, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Barn Interior at Corn Husking Time, 1860 (Hills no. 13.1.1)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?SystemID=124 (accessed on March 29, 2024).