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

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Photo: Rockefeller Archive Center
John Davison Rockefeller, 1895 (Hills no. 31.1.185). Installation at Rockefeller Archive Center
Installation at Rockefeller Archive Center
Photo: Matthew Septimus, Courtesy of Rockefeller Archive Center
[ 31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men ]info
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31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men

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

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Hills no. 31.1.185
John Davison Rockefeller
Alternate titles: possibly J. D. Rockefeller; possibly Portrait of John D. Rockefeller; John D. Rockefeller; John D. Rockefeller Sr.; Mr. John D. Rockefeller; Portrait of John D. Rockefeller, Esq.; Portrait of Mr. John D. Rockefeller
1895
Oil on canvas
72 x 48 in. (182.9 x 121.9 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson/1895
Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Provenance
Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)
John D. Rockefeller, Sr., 1906 (by purchase)
Edith Rockefeller McCormick (Mrs. Harold F. McCormick), his daughter, by 1910 (by gift)
Fowler McCormick, her son, until 1968
The Rockefeller Foundation, 1968 (by gift)
The Rockefeller University, New York, by 1976 and until 2008
Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York, 2008 (by transfer)
Exhibitions
1896c Century Association
Century Association, New York, May 2, 1896, [possibly, as J. D. Rockefeller].
1901 Carnegie Institute
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Sixth Carnegie International, November 7, 1901–January 1, 1902, no. 119, as Mr. John D. Rockefeller.
1902 PAFA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Spring 1902, no. 143, [possibly, as Portrait of John D. Rockefeller].
1902 Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Portraits of Americans, March 13–15, 1902, no. 14, as Portrait of John D. Rockefeller, Esq.
1902 Century Association
Century Association, New York, June 7, 1902, [possibly, as J. D. Rockefeller].
1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, 1904, no. 400, as Portrait of Mr. John D. Rockefeller.
1905 Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Loan Exhibition of Portraits, January 2–22, 1905, no. 60, as John D. Rockefeller.
1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, [possibly, as John D. Rockefeller].
1910 Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Loan Exhibition of Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago for the Benefit of the Passavant Memorial Hospital, March 7–27, 1910. (Art Institute of Chicago 1910), no. 55, as John D. Rockefeller.
References
Schmidt 1904
Schmidt, Karl Eugen. "Die Amerikanische Kunst auf der St. Louiser Ausstellung [American Art at the St. Louis Exhibition]." Kunstchronik (Leipzig, Germany) 33, no. 30 (September 30, 1904), p. 565.
Tarbell 1905
Tarbell, Ida M. The History of the Standard Oil Company. New York: McClure, Phillips, & Co., 1905, p. 120.
Hartmann 1908
Hartmann, Sadakichi. "Eastman Johnson: American Genre Painter." The International Studio 34 (April 1908), p. 107, as Portrait of Mr. John D. Rockefeller.
Art Institute of Chicago 1910
Catalogue of Loan Exhibition of Portraits at the Art Institute of Chicago for the Benefit of the Passavant Memorial Hospital. March 7–27, 1910. Exhibition catalogue (1910 Art Institute of Chicago), no. 55, as John D. Rockefeller.
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 J. D. Rockefeller].
Chernow 2004
Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Vintage Books, 2004, p. 330.
Abrahamson 2013
Abrahamson, Eric John. Beyond Charity: A Century of Philanthropic Innovation (The Rockefeller Foundation Centennial Series). New York: Rockefeller Foundation, 2013, front cover and p. 37, illus. [caption is incorrect, per Rockefeller Archive Center].
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Rockefeller, John Davison
Biography:

John Davison (“J. D.”) Rockefeller (1839–1937). Oil baron who founded Standard Oil Co. and prospered greatly thanks to his business acumen. Largely responsible for creating the University of Chicago, as well as other notable philanthropy. Son of William Avery and Elizabeth (Davison) Rockefeller. Married Laura Celestia Spelman (m. 1864); father of five children.

White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.

Rockefeller, John Davison
Keywords
Record last updated August 18, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "John Davison Rockefeller, 1895 (Hills no. 31.1.185)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1178 (accessed on May 3, 2024).