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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Entry
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© 2003 Christie’s Images Limited
⊠
10.0 Civil War Themes
Johnson was thirty-six years old when the Civil War began. Although he did not serve in the Union Army, he followed the Union troops in search of subjects that would appeal to a pro-Union audience. He also painted pictures of the homefront. —PH
Hills no. 10.0.15
Little Soldier
Alternate title: The Little Soldier
c.1864
Oil on board
15 1/4 x 12 3/4 in. (38.7 x 32.4 cm)
Neither signed nor dated
Description / Remarks
MacGibeny, 2021: According to correspondence from a prior owner of the painting, the boy in the picture had been said to be Philip Johnson Wilson, son of Eastman Johnson's sister Judith and her husband James G. Wilson. These three Wilson Family members are portrayed in other paintings and/or drawings by Johnson.
Markings
Verso: lower right: EASTMAN JOHNSON/"LITTLE SOLDIER"; middle, in pencil, within a rectangle: 1864; top center right, in white: For P.J. Wilson; upper right, in white: H2; center: 113 ["8" or "3"] 65
Labels
Labels on verso: white adhesive: SPINK-LEGER PICTURES, London, England: EASTMAN JOHNSON/1824-1906/The Little Soldier/Oil on Board/15 1/4 x 12 3/4 inches/38.7 x 32.3 cm/Signed, dated and inscribed verso/Little Soldier, 1864; lower left: [partial label]
Provenance
Alfred W. Wilson, grandnephew of the artist and son of the presumed subject (by descent)
Mrs. Alfred W. Wilson, his widow
Private collection (by descent)
[Christie's, May 26, 1999, lot 9]
R. M. Thune, Greenwich, Connecticut
Private collection, by 2003
Spink-Leger Gallery, London (as The Little Soldier)
[Christie's, December 4, 2003, Property from the Collection of Spink-Leger Gallery, London, lot 46 (as The Little Soldier)]
Private collection, by August 1, 2017
Present whereabouts unknown
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1999-04-08
Examination notes: Graphite lines under chin, ear, along shoe. Highlights on rifle and sword, gun and canteen, bed roll. Face is uniformly painted (all infilled?).
Related work
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Keywords
- Portrait pose:
- Subject matter:
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. "Little Soldier, c.1864 (Hills no. 10.0.15)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=110 (accessed on May 7, 2024).