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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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Photo: Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.
[ 27.0 Literary/Historical ]info
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27.0 Literary/Historical

In addition to his scenes of everyday life and portraits of people, Johnson created images of historical events and figures from works of literature, drama, and music. For example, “Carry Me, and I’ll Drum You Through” was inspired by an incident from the Battle of Antietam, 1862, and Membership Vote at the Union League Club, May 11, 1876, recorded a contentious meeting in which he participated much later. His Marguerite, Cosette, and Minnehaha are personifications of fictional heroines from novels and poetry. His Boy Lincoln represents both the future United States president and the archetypical American youth who, with determination and hard work, could succeed. Johnson rendered several of these imaginative images as both paintings and drawings. These literary and historical works evince both his personal interest in those subjects and his awareness of their popularity with the broad public. —AM

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Hills no. 27.0.15
The Long Long Weary Day
Alternate titles: Long and Weary Day; The Long, Long Weary Day; The Winter Day
c.1873
Oil on academy board
22 1/2 x 12 1/4 in. (57.2 x 31.1 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson / 1873
Present whereabouts unknown
Description / Remarks

MacGibeny, 2021: "The Long, Long Weary Day" is a song that was translated from the German and published in 1853. According to the Library of Congress records of the sheet music, it was associated with the Confederate side of the Civil War. The lyrics are sung from the point of view of a woman as she looks out her window, keeping watch for her love who has died and will never return. See the attached sheet music with lyrics from the Connecticut College Music Collection.

Additional Material
Provenance
Private collection, Boston, c. 1880
Private collection, Cromwell, Connecticut, c. 1905 (by descent)
Private collection, Pawling, New York and private collection, Dedham, Massachusetts, by March 2, 1974 (by descent)
[Vose Galleries, Boston, March 2, 1974]
Private collection, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 27, 1974 (by purchase)
Private collection, New York, until 1984
[Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1984]
Private collection, 1985 (by purchase)
[Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 2004]
Private collection, 2006 (by purchase)
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1874 Century Association
Century Association, New York, January 10, 1874, no. 25, as The Long Long Weary Day.
References
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. 261, as The Long Long Weary Day.
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. "The Long Long Weary Day, c.1873 (Hills no. 27.0.15)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1364 (accessed on April 19, 2024).