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
Hills, 2021: This painting likely was done from a photograph.
New York Times, August 18, 1895: “The artists [sic], Eastman Johnson, returned to Lenox tonight from a brief visit to New-York. He has just finished a portrait of George Cabot Ward for the Union League Club. It is considered one of the best of his portrait paintings.”
2020-02-19: Difficult to see the painting. No visible signature. Dark background and dark jacket, with edges of jacket outlined in black. Face seems to be carefully and smoothly painted; not in Johnson’s usual style.
George Cabot Ward (1824–1887). New York businessman.
- Portrait pose:
- Posthumous: