Catalogue Entry
When Johnson returned to the United States, he not only painted genre paintings but he also continued to paint portraits, which gave him a steady income. After 1880 Johnson turned to portraiture almost exclusively. During the 1880s and 1890s he painted businessmen, lawyers, university presidents, and three U.S. presidents from life. At times he also painted their wives and children.
He was also commissioned to paint posthumous portraits, often from photographs. These portraits by and large do not have the sparkle and active brushwork of those done from life. It seems that the demand for portraits of business and civic leaders (and members of exclusive men’s clubs) was so high that portrait painters would often make copies of each other’s paintings to satisfy the market for such images. In many instances, it has been difficult to render opinions for such paintings. —PH
Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive files, Eastman Johnson, "Benjamin Harrison," b1188504x, accessed March 27, 2021: "Gray hair and beard. Black suit, white tie. Red cover on table."
National Tribune, August 22, 1895, p.5: "There is now an oil portrait of every President of the United States at the White House, the last, that of ex-President Harrison, just completed by Eastman Johnson, having arrived this week. It was provided, like the others, by Congress, which appropriated $2,500 last session for the purchase, and Col. Wilson, who had the disbursement of the money, authorized Gen. Harrison to choose the artist. As has been stated, the portrait is entirely acceptable to Gen. Harrison and his family. It will be hung in a few days, probably with the portraits of the present President [Cleveland] and Arthur, in the Red Parlor."
Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901). Twenty-third president of the United States, 1889–1893.
White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.
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