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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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[ 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. 31.1.198
William Douglas Sloane
Alternate titles: possibly Portrait; W. D. Sloane
c.1888
Oil
[dimensions unknown]
Present whereabouts unknown
Description / Remarks

MacGibeny, 2021: William Douglas Sloane could have been as young as 44 years old at the time this portrait was done. See the linked photograph for his likeness later in life.

Provenance
Possibly William Douglas Sloane, by 1888
Columbia University, New York, by 1912
Possibly The Presbyterian Hospital, New York, c. 1989
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1888 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, April 2–May 12, 1888. (NAD 1888), no. 456, [possibly, as Portrait, owner Mr. Wm. D. Sloane].
References
NAD 1888
National Academy Notes including the Complete Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition. New York: National Academy of Design, 1888. Exhibition catalogue (1888 NAD), p. 141, no. 456 [possibly, as Portrait].
New York Herald 1888
"Glass and Shadow Box." New York Herald, March 17, 1888.
Brush and Pencil 1906
"The Necrology of Art." Brush and Pencil 17, no. 5 (May 1906), p. 106, as W. D. Sloane, mentioned in a list of portraits by Johnson.
Columbia University 1912
An Official Guide to Columbia University. New York: Columbia University Press, 1912, p. 118.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Sloane, William Douglas
Biography:

William Douglas Sloane (February 29, 1844–March 19, 1915). Furniture manufacturer.

Keywords
Record last updated March 22, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "William Douglas Sloane, c.1888 (Hills no. 31.1.198)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1332 (accessed on April 28, 2024).