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Photo: Kenneth Lux
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13.2 Maine Rustic/Farm, 1860s—Figures in Interiors
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
Hills no. 13.2.3
A Drop on the Sly
Alternate titles: "About Right!"; About Right; About Right!; Man Taking a Drink
1863
Locale: Maine
Oil on panel
15 x 12 3/4 in. (38.1 x 32.4 cm) (sight)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1863
Provenance
James L. Claghorn, Philadelphia, by spring 1864 until at least 1867
Samuel Putnam Avery, New York, by April 27, 1869
[Samuel P. Avery, New York, April 27, 1869, Somerville Gallery, Catalogue of Samuel P. Avery's Entire Collection of Works of Art, by Celebrated American and Foreign Artists, in Oil and Water Colors, Painted Expressly For or Imported by Him, no. 73 (as A Drop on the Sly)]
John Frederick Kensett, April 27, 1869–1872 (by purchase)
Sarah M. Kellogg, Brooklyn, New York, his sister
Harry Shaw Newman, The Old Print Shop, New York, 1945–1946
Wildenstein and Company, New York
Ken Lux, Hamilton Gallery, New York, by 1971
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1864 PAFA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, United States Christian Commission, Spring 1864, no. 178, as A Drop on the Sly, owner James L. Claghorn.1864 Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission
Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Philadelphia, June 1864. (Great Central Fair 1864), no. 197, as A Drop on the Sly, owner James L. Claghorn.1873a NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, The Collection of over Five Hundred Paintings and Studies by the Late John F. Kensett, March 24–29, 1873, no. 799, as "About Right!"1878 Brooklyn Art Association
Brooklyn Art Association, Brooklyn, New York, December 2–14, 1878, no. 156, as About Right!1948 Wildenstein & Co.
Wildenstein & Co, New York, Eastman Johnson, Summer 1948. (Wildenstein 1948), no. 4, as About Right.1949 Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art
Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art, Los Angeles, Winslow Homer 1836–1910, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906, February 4, 1949–May 7, 1950. (Exhibition catalogue: LACMA 1949), no. 7, as About Right. Traveled to: Denver Art Museum, Denver, 1949; Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Takoma Art League, Takoma, Washington, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949).References
Great Central Fair 1864
Paintings, Drawings, Statuary in the Great Central Fair. Philadelphia: Great Central Fair, 1864. Exhibition catalogue (1864 Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission), p. 10, no. 197, as A Drop on the Sly.Tuckerman 1867
Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the American Artists: American Artist Life. New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867, p. 630, as A Drop on the Sly.Samuel P. Avery 1869
Catalogue of Samuel P. Avery's Entire Collection of Works of Art, by Celebrated American and Foreign Artists, in Oil and Water Colors, Painted Expressly For or Imported by Him. New York: Samuel P. Avery, April 27, 1869. Sale catalogue, p. 10, no. 73, as A Drop on the Sly, handwritten notations: "340" and "Kensett".Olyphant 1873
Olyphant, R. M., executor. Executor’s Sale: The Collection of Over Five Hundred Paintings and Studies by the Late John F. Kensett. New York: Robert Somerville, auctioneer, March 24–29, 1873. Sale catalogue, p. 48, no. 799, as "About Right!".Wildenstein 1948
Eastman Johnson. New York: Wildenstein, 1948. Exhibition catalogue (1948 Wildenstein & Co.), no. 4, as About Right.Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949
Winslow Homer 1836–1910; Eastman Johnson 1824–1906. San Diego, CA: Fine Arts Society of San Diego, 1949. Exhibition catalogue (1949 Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art), no. 7, as About Right.Kellogg n.d.
Kellogg, Mrs. Sarah M. List of Paintings and Frames with the values belonging to Mrs. Sarah M. Kellogg, and contained in the frame dwelling house 668 Nostrand Avenue, Borough of Brooklyn, New York City. n.d. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, microfilm reel N738, frames 607–08, 619, no. 5, as About Right.Newman n.d.
Newman, Harry Shaw. Schedule of Paintings and Frames belonging to Mrs. Sarah M. Kellogg contained in the Frame Dwelling House 668 Nostrand Avenue, Borough of Brooklyn, New York City. New York, n.d, no. 100, as About Right.Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-03-11
Record last updated December 22, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "A Drop on the Sly, 1863 (Hills no. 13.2.3)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?SystemID=134 (accessed on April 17, 2024).