Catalogue Entry
Johnson’s portraits of children and adolescents were often part of a larger commission to paint whole families. In some instances, the children had died and their parents wished to have a reminder of their loved ones. —PH
MacGibeny, 2021: According to Yaddo, Spencer Trask, Jr. was known to his family as "Junious." They believe that his portrait and the portrait of his sister Christina were done posthumously, commissioned by their parents, Katrina and Spencer Trask, following the childrens' deaths three days apart in April 1888. They had contracted diphtheria from their mother.
Paul Eugene Sigrist, Jr., et al., The Yaddo Collection, 1985: "The most important paintings from the 1880’s are three full length portraits of Katrina (75” by 49”), her daughter Christina (“71 by 35 ¼”), and son Spencer Jr. (69” by 35 ¼”), painted by the eminent American painter Eastman Johnson in 1887 and 1888. The archives contain photographs of Johnson and Katrina as he painted her portrait on the porch of the first Yaddo mansion (these are the photographs I copied for you). Katrina, wearing a white dress, strikes an aloof pose. In her portrait, Christina appears self-assured and precocious in her dark riding habit. Youthful Spencer Jr. holds a toy ball. The portraits are made more imposing by the heavy gilt frames of tortured leaves and tendrils that surround the images."
Spencer Trask, Jr. (1884–1888). Son of Spencer and Katrina Trask; brother of Christina Trask, all were portrayed by Johnson. Known to the family as “Junious.”
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