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
Cornell University Library, Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections website, accessed April 10, 2021: "At Dedication Exercises held on June 20, 1883, as part of Cornell’s annual commencement, Henry W. Sage unveiled the portrait of Justin S. Morrill that he and his fellow Trustees of Cornell University had commissioned the noted artist Eastman Johnson to paint.
"In his remarks that day, Cornell co-founder and first president, Andrew D. White, proclaimed: 'I ask you to look a moment at the passage of that bill. Centuries hence men shall look back upon it as one of the noblest things in American annals.'
"Morrill was so pleased with this portrait that he had Johnson paint a replica of it for his Washington, D.C. home. That painting is now on display in the U.S. Capitol.
"That same day, the Trustees passed a resolution 'that South University building be hereafter known and designated Morrill Hall, and North University building be hereafter known and designated White Hall.'"
Justin Smith Morrill (1810–1898). Politician. Served in the U.S. House of Representatives, elected 1854; U.S. Senate, elected 1867. Strong economic protectionist who also sponsored educational and cultural projects, such as a National Statuary Hall of state portrait sculptures and promotion of the construction of the Library of Congress, among other endeavors. Known for introducing the Morrill Land Grant College Act Bill of 1862 [Senate.gov].
White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.
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