Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, Project Manager and Co-Author
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Photo: Courtesy of the Cincinnati Art Museum
Studies of Young Girl, c.1870–80 (Hills no. 41.0.1). Lighter image
Lighter image
Photo: Courtesy of the Cincinnati Art Museum
41.0 Graphite Tracings

Only one such graphite tracing by Johnson is known to exist. It is an intermediate drawing used in the transfer process discussed by conservator Sheldon Keck in “A Use of Infra-Red Photography in the Study of Technique,” Technical Studies in the Field of the Fine Arts, 1941:

Johnson's procedure, as thus reconstructed, seems to have been to prepare carefully in advance of his painting a drawing of the whole or of important parts. In this he determined as well the modelling and chiaroscuro to be used in his painting. He next traced the drawing and transferred the outline to the picture priming. He diligently followed this outline in his application of paint. The drawing of the "Girl with Glass" of which a painted version appears in "The New Bonnet" illustrates this conclusion. The measurements of the drawn and painted figures coincide and the infra-red photograph reveals the guide lines in the painting.

PH

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Hills no. 41.0.1
Studies of Young Girl
c.1870–80
Pencil on tracing paper
14 x 13 7/8 in. (35.6 x 35.2 cm)
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Record last updated March 22, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Studies of Young Girl, c.1870–80 (Hills no. 41.0.1)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1047 (accessed on November 7, 2024).