Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Maryland Center for History and Culture, 1949.90.18, courtesy of the Frick Art Reference Library
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45.5 U.S. Later Portrait Drawings, Children and Adolescents
When Johnson returned from Europe late in 1855 and moved in with his family in Washington, D.C., he began receiving portrait commissions. Like the commissioned drawings done earlier, Johnson generally used charcoal (named in some records as black chalk) with touches of white and created a strong chiaroscuro for his sitters. In his later professional years as a painter of oil few portraits of children are recorded. His art commanded high prices; perhaps families were then reluctant to include their children in sittings for portrait drawings. —PH
Hills no. 45.5.7
Elisha Francis Riggs
1856
Locale: Washington, D.C.
Charcoal on paper
30 x 21 3/4 in. (76.2 x 55.2 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1856
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Provenance
References
Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the American Artists: American Artist Life. New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867, p. 633, as one of Four Crayon Portraits.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Riggs, Elisha Francis
Biography:
Elisha Francis Riggs (1851–1910). Son of George Washington Riggs and Janet Madeleine Cecilia Shedden; brother of George Shedden Riggs, also portrayed by Johnson.
Keywords
- Portrait pose
: - Portrait sitter families
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Record last updated March 23, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Elisha Francis Riggs, 1856 (Hills no. 45.5.7)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1034 (accessed on May 2, 2025).