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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy of The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
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13.1 Maine Rustic/Farm, 1860s—Figures in Barns
In the nineteenth century, attitudes towards work changed, especially in the northern states of America. Although some artists made fun of “country bumpkins,” in general, farm work and farmers began to take on greater prestige and admiration. During the 1860s, Johnson returned to his birthplace in Maine to make studies of maple sugar production and also to seek out subjects of a rural life far removed from slavery. Barn interiors and home interiors show the families of farmers husking corn, winnowing grain, of taking a smoke. Exteriors show farmers at harvest time, loggers cutting trees or simply relaxing. In choosing scenes of rural white America Johnson was following in the tradition of Francis William Edmonds, George H. Durrie, Tompkins H. Matteson, and William Sidney Mount—a tradition popularized by the prints of Currier and Ives. —PH
Hills no. 13.1.6
Baur no. 91a
Shelling Corn
Toledo Museum of Art title: Corn-Shelling
Alternate titles: Corn Sheller; Corn Shelling; Corn-Sheller
1864
Locale: Maine
Oil on academy board
15 3/8 x 12 1/2 in. (39.1 x 31.8 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson —64.
Description / Remarks
Hills, 2021: This painting likely is shown hanging on the back wall in Johnson's group portrait Christmas-Time (The Blodgett Family).
Markings
Verso, in pencil: From Jas. Ellsworth/Collectio [sic] New York; C. Johnson; Mrs. W[?] Hamilton/66 E. 124 St.
Provenance
James M. Burt, New York, by 1864 (as Shelling Corn)
William T. Blodgett, Esq., New York, by 1864 until at least 1876
James W. Ellworth, Chicago, by 1888 until April 12, 1923
[M. Knoedler & Co., New York, February 1923—April 12, 1923 (as Shelling Corn)]
Chester H. Johnson, Chicago, April 12, 1923–1924
Possibly Mrs. W. Hamilton, New York
Florence Scott Libbey, Toledo, Ohio, 1924
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1924 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1864 Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission
Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Philadelphia, June 1864. (Great Central Fair 1864), no. 162, as Shelling Corn, owner J. M. Burt, New York.1865 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, April 27–July 1, 1865. (NAD 1865), no. 501, as Corn-Sheller, owner Wm. T. Blodgett.1888 Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, May 28–June 30, 1888, no. 101, as Shelling Corn, owner James W. Ellsworth, Chicago.1890b Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Art Collections Loaned by James W. Ellsworth, May 5–November 1, 1890, no. 50, as Shelling Corn, owner James W. Ellsworth.1939 Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, American Exhibition 50th Annual: Half a Century of American Art, 1888–1938, November 16, 1939–January 7, 1940, no. 85, pl. II.1945 Greenwich Public Library
Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, Connecticut, September 1945.1986 IBM Gallery
IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York, American Paintings from the Toledo Museum of Art, 1986.1992 Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, A Nation's Legacy: 150 Years of American Art from Ohio Collections, January 19–March 15, 1992, no. 14, color illus., pp. 24, 180. Traveled to: Isetan Museum, Tokyo, April 9–May 5, 1992; Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi City, Japan, May 12–June 21, 1992; Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukuskima, Japan, June 27–August 2, 1992; Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu, Japan, August 7–September 6, 1992; Daimaru Museum Umeda, Osaka, Japan, September 23–October 5, 1992.2011 Museum Kunst Palast
Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany, The Düsseldorf School of Painting—Crossing Bridges Between Cultures, September 23, 2011–January 22, 2012, no. 339, pp. 400, 402, repr. (col.)References
Great Central Fair 1864
Paintings, Drawings, Statuary in the Great Central Fair. Philadelphia: Great Central Fair, 1864. Exhibition catalogue (1864 Great Central Fair for the Benefit of the U.S. Sanitary Commission), p. 9, no. 162, as Shelling Corn.NAD 1865
New York: National Academy of Design, 1865. Exhibition catalogue (1865 NAD), no. 501, as Corn-Sheller.Tuckerman 1867
Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the American Artists: American Artist Life. New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867, pp. 470, 623, as Corn Sheller.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), p. 64, no. 91a, as Corn Shelling.Adams and Coleman 1944
Adams, James Truslow, and R. V. Coleman. Album of American History. New York: Scribners, 1944, illus.Richardson 1944
Richardson, E. P. and Robert Freund. American Romantic Painting. New York: E. Weyhe, 1944, pl. 175.Furman 1945
Furman, George M. Toledo Ohio Sunday Times, November 4, 1945.Wilder, Ludlum, and Brown 1948
Wilder, Ludlum, and Brown. Elementary American History: This Is America's Story. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1948, illus.Richardson 1956
Richardson, E. P. Painting in America: The Story of 450 Years. New York: Crowell, 1956, p. 232.Washington 1964
Washington, Selden. "Art and American Life." Toledo Museum of Art Museum News 7, no. 3 (new series) (autumn 1964), pp. 51–54, illus. p. 53.Young 1967
Young, Mahonri Sharp. "From Howling Wilderness to Queensborough Bridge." Apollo 86, no. 70 (December 1967), p. 503.Peterson 1971
Peterson, Harold L. Americans at Home: From the Colonists to the Late Victorians. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, pl. 114, illus.Toledo Museum of Art 1979
American Paintings. Toledo, OH: Toledo Museum of Art, 1979, pp. 66–67, pl. 40.Kaster 1980
Kaster, Joseph. "The Conundrum of Corn: The Artist's Vision." American Heritage 31. no. 5 (August/September 1980), p. 24, illus. p. 25.Carbone and Hills 1999
Carbone, Teresa A., and Patricia Hills. Eastman Johnson: Painting America. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 Brooklyn Museum), p. 62, fig. 37, as Corn-Shelling.Douglass 1999
Douglass, Julie M. "Lifetime Exhibition History." In Eastman Johnson: Painting America, by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, p. 260.Simon 2003
Simon, David L. "Eastman Johnson's Lunchtime." Colby Quarterly 39, no. 4 (December 2003).Baumgärtel 2011
Baumgärtel, Bettina. Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule und ihre internationale Ausstrahlung, 1819–1918. Dusseldorf: Museum Kunstpalast, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 400 illus., fig. 339.Keywords
- Subject matter:
Record last updated January 13, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Shelling Corn, 1864 (Hills no. 13.1.6)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=129 (accessed on April 25, 2024).