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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

Catalogue Entry

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Photo: The San Diego Museum of Art
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

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Hills no. 10.0.18
Baur no. 40 / 1907 Sale no. 133
Wounded Drummer Boy at Antietam—“Carry me, and I’ll drum you through”
San Diego Museum of Art title: Wounded Drummer Boy
Alternate titles: possibly Drummer Boy; possibly The Wounded Drummer Boy; Study for "The Wounded Drummer Boy"; The Drummer Boy
c.1864–71
Oil on board
26 1/4 x 21 5/8 in. (66.7 x 54.9 cm)
Initialed lower right: E.J.
1907 Estate Sale info
No. 133: "This is the well-known picture of the artist illustrating the historical incident at the battle of Antietam, when a wounded drummer boy was carried to the front by one of his comrades. Although unable to walk, the youngster, wishing to be in the fight, and knowing that the notes of his drum would give heart to his comrades, exclaimed “Carry me, and I’ll drum you through.” The young lad, his right leg bandaged, is seated astride of his friend’s left shoulder, vigorously beating his drum, apparently unconscious of the pain of his wound. The young soldier who carries him, with rifle on his right shoulder, strides vigorously along, and gazes upward at the lad in admiration. Beyond the two are dead and wounded men, and in the smoke of battle the blue-clad line is seen advancing, cheering the drummer as the march into the fight."
"Signed at the lower right, E. J.
Height, 28 inches; width, 23 inches."
[Annotation: “660.00 / Thos. H. Hubbard"]
Provenance
Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)
[The artist's estate sale, American Art Association, New York, February 26–27, 1907, no. 133 (as Wounded Drummer Boy at Antietam—“Carry me, and I’ll drum you through”)]
Thomas Hamlin Hubbard, February 27, 1907 (by purchase)
Sibyl Emma Hubbard (Mrs. Herbert Seymour) Darlington, La Jolla, California, his daughter, by 1940 and until March 25, 1941
The San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, March 25, 1941 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1872b Century Association
Century Association, New York, February 3, 1872, no. 27, [possibly, as The Drummer Boy].
1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, [possibly, as The Wounded Drummer Boy].
1937 Frazier Gallery
Frazier Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins, September–October 1937. (Hirschl 1937); (Frazier Gallery 1937a), no. 15, as The Drummer Boy.
1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 40, b/w illus., Pl. VI, as Study for "The Wounded Drummer Boy".
1943 Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Romantic Painting in America, November 17, 1943–February 6, 1944. (Exhibition catalogue: Soby and Miller 1943), no. 117, 71, as Study for The Wounded Drummer Boy, lent by Fine Arts Society of San Diego.
References
Johnson, Eastman 1864a
Eastman Johnson letter to E. D. Palmer, January 4, 1864. Albany Institute of History & Art Library, Eastman Johnson artist file, "The Drummer Boy I have not yet painted nor begun, but am making the drawing for it larger…"
AAA 1907b
Catalogue of Finished Pictures, Studies, and Drawings by the Late Eastman Johnson, N.A. New York: American Art Association, February 1907. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 133, as Wounded Drummer Boy at Antietam—“Carry me, and I’ll drum you through”.
American Art News 1907b
"Eastman Johnson Sale." American Art News 5, no. 20 (March 2, 1907).
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 12, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as Drummer Boy].
Baur 1940
Baur, John I. H. An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1940. Exhibition catalogue (1939 Brooklyn Museum), no. 40, as Study for "The Wounded Drummer Boy".
Soby and Miller 1943
Soby, James Thrall, and Dorothy C. Miller. Romantic Painting in America. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1943. Exhibition catalogue (1943 Museum of Modern Art), no. 117, p. 71 illus., p. 137, as Study for The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Ames 1969/1970
Ames, Kenneth. "Eastman Johnson: The Failure of a Successful Artist." Art Journal 29, no. 2 (Winter 1969/1970), pp. 174–83; p. 177 illus.
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Keywords
Record last updated June 30, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Wounded Drummer Boy at Antietam—“Carry me, and I’ll drum you through”, c.1864–71 (Hills no. 10.0.18)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=115 (accessed on March 28, 2024).