Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné

Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

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[ 13.7 Maine Haylofts, 1870s ]

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13.7 Maine Haylofts, 1870s

In 1877, and possibly 1878, Johnson visited his sister Harriet May and her family in Kennebunkport, Maine. He found a delightful subject in the games the children played in the barn. For Johnson it was another opportunity to render darkened interiors, from which figures emerge, with sunlight shining through loft doors and playing off the partially illuminated figures and objects in the foreground. It is quite likely that many of the paintings were finished in his New York studio. —PH

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Hills no. 13.7.1

The Confab

Alternate titles: possibly The Confab (Two Children); possibly Two Children on a Beam in a Barn; The Truants

1877

Locale: Kennebunkport, Maine

Oil on board

21 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (54 x 31.1 cm)

Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1877 [as if carved into the wooden post]

Wadsworth Atheneum, Thomas B. Clarke Collection (1943.221)

Description / Remarks

American Art Association sale catalogue, 1899: “Two children are seated on a beam in a haymow, dangling their legs and talking to each other. The sun coming in from the top, lights them brilliantly, and makes the background recede into darkness. The straw hat of one has fallen down below, and the little tots are probably discussing the difficulty. One of the faces is turned half away, and is deliciously indicated with infantile grace and beauty. The other little face looks up interestedly. How thoroughly the painter has entered into the spirit of child life, and how he has put himself in sympathy with the children he has limned here, an analysis of this composition will show. It is a veritable masterpiece of character work.”

Provenance

[Possibly Artists' Fund Society, New York, January 22, 1878 (as The Confab)]

Alexander Tenney Stewart, by 1887

[American Art Association, New York, March 23–25, 1887, A. T. Stewart Sale, no. 11 (as The Confab)]

N. Q. Pope, 1887 (by purchase)

[American Art Association, New York, January 23, 1896, The N. Q. Pope Collection, lot 23 (as The Confab)]

Thomas B. Clarke, by 1899

[American Art Association, New York, February 14–18, 1899, The Private Art Collection of Thomas B. Clarke, no. 53 (as The Confab)]

Samuel P. Avery, Jr., New York, 1899 (by purchase)

[Possibly American Art Association, New York, December 2, 1931, Anderson Galleries, Sale 3933, Collection of the Late Thomas B. Clarke, lot 128 (as The Truants)]

[Coleman Galleries, New York, by 1943]

A. F. Mondschein, until July 22, 1943

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, July 22, 1943 (by purchase)

Exhibitions

1877d Century Association

Century Association, New York, November 3, 1877, [possibly, as Two Children on a Beam in a Barn].

1878 Artists' Fund Society

Artists' Fund Society, New York, January 22, 1878, no. 58, [possibly, as The Confab, likely owner Eastman Johnson].

1942 Wadsworth Atheneum

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, In Memoriam, an Exhibition of Paintings under $1000, 1942, no. 6.

References

Benjamin 1882

Benjamin, S. G. W. "A Representative American." The Magazine of Art 5 (November 1882), pp. 485, 488.

AAA 1887

Catalogue of the A. T. Stewart Collection of Paintings, Sculptures, and Other Objects of Art. New York: American Art Association, March 23–25, 1887. Sale catalogue, pp. 23, 46, no. 11, as The Confab, 12 x 22. Dated 1877.

AAA 1896

Catalogue of Modern Paintings: Water Colors, Etchings, Bronzes, Ivories, Bric-a-Brac, Art Furniture, Rare Rugs, Etc, Belonging to Mr. N. Q. Pope. New York: American Art Association, 1896. Sale catalogue, p. 12, no. 23, as The Confab, "From the A. T. Stewart sale."

AAA 1899

Catalogue of the Private Art Collection of Thomas B. Clarke. New York: American Art Association, February 1899. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 53, as The Confab.

Levy 1899

Levy, Florence N., ed. American Art Annual. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1899, p. 56, no. 53, as The Confab, "(22 x 14) S. P. Avery, Jr. 625".

Walton 1906

Walton, William. "Eastman Johnson, Painter." Scribner's Magazine 40 (September 1906), p. 267, illus., as The Confab.

AAA 1931

Catalogue of the Collection of the Late Thomas B. Clarke. New York: American Art Association, December 1931. Sale catalogue, p. 18, no. 128 [possibly, as The Truants].

Ames 1969/1970

Ames, Kenneth. "Eastman Johnson: The Failure of a Successful Artist." Art Journal 29, no. 2 (Winter 1969/1970), pp. 174–83, illus.

Weinberg 1976

Weinberg, H. Barbara. "Thomas B. Clarke: Foremost Patron of American Art from 1872 to 1899." The American Art Journal 8, no. 1 (May 1976), p. 77 (as The Confab, and possibly as The Truants).

Hills 1977

Hills, Patricia. The Genre Paintings of Eastman Johnson: The Sources and Development of His Style and Themes. New York: Garland Publishing, 1977, p. 143, as The Confab.

Hills Examination / Opinion

Examination date(s): 1970-09-16

Examination notes: 1970-09-16: Pale green hay—umber sienna background. Child left: white bonnet, blue coat, lavender turned-up sleeve, white sox with blue stripe. Right child: blond hair, white coat, black skirt, red petticoat, blue hose with white stripes. Blue and yellow flowers on beam at right. Strong light spots on child's face from the sunshine.

Related work

Record last updated February 12, 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 Confab, 1877 (Hills no. 13.7.1)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1349 (accessed on April 29, 2024).