Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Reproduced by permission
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Photo: Patricia Hills
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
Inscription
Photo: Patricia Hills
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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. 10.0.21
Baur no. 39
The Wounded Drummer Boy, an incident of the late war
Alternate titles: likely The Drummer Boy; possibly Drummer Boy; The Wounded Drummer Boy; Wounded Drummer Boy
1871
Oil on canvas
48 x 39 in. (121.9 x 99.1 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson — 1871
Private collection, New York
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Description / Remarks
Hills 1972: "In the finished work, exhibited in the National Academy of Design Annual Exhibition of 1872, Johnson reverted to the Civil War, choosing from many stories made popular by history and literature of young drummer boys whose brave valor had inspired courage in their older comrades. Here the child, wounded but valiant and held aloft by a foot soldier, drums to raise the morale of the troops. The charming pathos of the subject disarms any genuine concerns for the hardships of war or the pitiful condition of this child-warrior."
National Academy of Design exhibition catalogue, 1872: "In one of the battles of the late war a drummer boy was disabled by a shot in the leg. As he lay upon the field he called to his comrades, 'Carry me and I'll drum her through.' They tied up his wound, a big soldier took him upon his shoulders, and he drummed through the fight."
Markings
Plate on frame: The Wounded Drummer Boy/Eastman Johnson
Provenance
Private collection, New York, by 2021
Exhibitions
Century Association, New York, February 3, 1872, no. 27, [likely, as The Drummer Boy].
National Academy of Design, New York, Forty-seventh Annual Exhibition, April 12–July 4, 1872. (NAD 1872), no. 205, as The Wounded Drummer Boy, an incident of the late war.
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Exhibition of Pictures Belonging to The Union League Club, March 8, 1883. (Exhibition catalogue: Union League Club of New York 1883), no. 10, as Wounded Drummer Boy.
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, April 11–13, 1895, no. 51, as The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, [possibly, as The Wounded Drummer Boy].
Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. (Panama-Pacific International Exposition 1915), no. 2681.
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Seventy-fifth Anniversary Exhibition, 1938.
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. 39, b/w illus., Pl. X, as The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Civil War: The Artists' Record, November 17–December 31, 1961. (Williams 1961), no. 129, p. 154. Traveled to: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, February 1–March 4, 1962.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 64, b/w illus., p. 75, as The Wounded Drummer Boy, lent by The Union League Club. Traveled to: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, June 7–July 22, 1972; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, August 15–September 30, 1972; Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, October 20–December 3, 1972.
National Academy of Design, New York, Retrospective on the History of the National Academy of Design, 2000.
References
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…"
Catalogue of the Forty-Seventh Annual Exhibition. New York: National Academy of Design, 1872. Exhibition catalogue (1872 NAD), p. 18, no. 205, as The Wounded Drummer Boy, an incident of the late war.
Catalogue of the Pictures Belonging to the Union League Club, Exhibited Thursday, March 8, 1883. New York: Union League Club of New York, March 8, 1883. Exhibition catalogue (1883 Union League Club of New York), n.p., no. 10, as Wounded Drummer Boy.
Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. San Francisco: Robert A. Reid, 1915. Exhibition catalogue (1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition), p. 55, no. 2681.
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].
Wood, William, and R. H. Gabriel. The Pageant of America: A Pictorial History of the United States. Vol. 7. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1928, frontispiece.
Neuhaus, Eugen. The History and Ideals of American Art. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1931, p. 142.
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. 39, as The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Williams, Hermann Warner. The Civil War: The Artists' Record. Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1961. Exhibition catalogue (1961 Corcoran Gallery of Art), p. 154, no. 129, as The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Ames, Kenneth. "Eastman Johnson: The Failure of a Successful Artist." Art Journal 29, no. 2 (Winter 1969/1970), pp. 174-83; illus. 177.
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 75, no. 64, as The Wounded Drummer Boy.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2020-02-19
Examination notes: 2020-02-19: Difficult to see the painting because of reflections. LL: E. Johnson. But hard to see whether there is a date below because of the scumbled paint suggesting grass and ground soil. A beautiful painting. Sense of atmosphere as figures disappear into the smoke-filled background. A soldier in shock sitting to the left of the drummer boy. Soldier to right administering a dose from a bottle to a fallen soldier. Good mix of details and broad painting. Highlights on rifle in front; outlining of figures. Shoe of boy is too large for his slender ankle.
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Keywords
- Subject matter:
Record last updated April 20, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "The Wounded Drummer Boy, an incident of the late war, 1871 (Hills no. 10.0.21)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=116 (accessed on April 19, 2024).