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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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© 1991 Christie’s Images Limited
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13.3 Maine Rustic/Farm, 1860s—Outdoors
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. 13.3.8
Baur no. 133
Preparing Breakfast
Alternate titles: possibly Before Breakfast; possibly Reading the News; possibly The Early Breakfast; Catching Up on the News; Getting Breakfast; Morning on the Farm; Reading the Newspaper
c.1862
Locale: Maine
Oil on board laid down on panel
9 1/2 x 13 in. (24.1 x 33 cm)
Signed lower right: E. Johnson
Private collection
Description / Remarks
Hills, 2021: The composition of this painting is almost exactly like that of Johnson's other version titled Preparing Breakfast, except that the figures here are white.
Labels
Elongated octagonal white sticker with red border on verso: Loaned by/Elizabeth Browning/Oct 1919; on paper label: #331; inscribed in crayon: 39
Provenance
[Possibly Artists' Fund Society, New York, December 23, 1862, no. 11 (as Before Breakfast)]
Possibly Charles Harvey, Baltimore
[Possibly Somerville Art Gallery, New York, March 31, 1870, Valuable Paintings Partly Belonging to the Estate of the Late Mr. Charles Harvey, of Baltimore, and Sold by the Order of the Executors, Mr. W. T. Walters, and Mr. B. F. Newcomer, no. 31 (as The Early Breakfast)]
Possibly Daniel Huntington, March 31, 1870 (by purchase)
[Possibly Geo. A. Leavitt & Co., New York, February 7, 1872, Important and Choice Modern Paintings by Eminent American & Foreign Artists, lot 81 (as Preparing Breakfast)]
Elizabeth Browning, Bar Harbor, Maine, by October 1919
William Macbeth, Inc., New York, by 1940
[Sotheby's, October 27, 1978, lot 39]
[Sotheby's, April 23, 1981]
Mrs. George Arden, April 23, 1981 (by purchase)
[Christie's, December 6, 1991, lot 67 (as Catching Up on the News)]
Menconi + Schoelkopf Fine Art, LLC, by December 2004
Private collection, with Lois Wagner Fine Arts, Inc., New York
Exhibitions
1862 Artists' Fund Society
Artists' Fund Society, Gallery of the Fine Art Institute, New York, December 23, 1862, no. 11, [possibly, as Before Breakfast, likely owner Eastman Johnson].1868 Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Exhibition in Honor of the Inauguration of the New Union League Club House, April 16, 1868, no. 24, [possibly, as Reading the News].1939 Macbeth Gallery
Macbeth Gallery, New York, Americana, November 1–30, 1939. (Macbeth Gallery 1939); (Macbeth Gallery 1976), no. 16, [possibly, as Getting Breakfast].References
New-York Daily Tribune 1862
"City Items: Sale of Pictures." New-York Daily Tribune, December 25, 1862, p. 8 [possibly, as Before Breakfast].Somerville Art Gallery 1870
Catalogue of Valuable Paintings Partly Belonging to the Estate of the Late Mr. Charles Harvey, of Baltimore, and Sold by the Order of the Executors, Mr. W. T. Walters, and Mr. B. F. Newcomer. New York: Somerville Art Gallery, March 31, 1870. Sale catalogue, p. 7, no. 31 [possibly, as The Early Breakfast].George A. Leavitt & Co. 1872
Catalogue of Important and Choice Modern Paintings by Eminent American & Foreign Artists. New York: George A. Leavitt & Co., February 7–8, 1872. Sale catalogue, p. 22 [possibly, as Preparing Breakfast], Handwritten annotation: "Man reading paper, Hay stack/woman kneeling by fire".Macbeth Gallery 1939
Americana. New York: Macbeth Gallery, 1939. Exhibition catalogue (1939 Macbeth Gallery), n.p., no. 16 [possibly, as Getting Breakfast].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. 66, no. 133, as Preparing Breakfast.John Levy Galleries 1942
Exhibition of Eastman Johnson. New York: John Levy Galleries, 1942. Exhibition catalogue (1942 John Levy Galleries), n.p. (2), no. 4, as Preparing Breakfast.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 [possibly, as Before Breakfast].Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1991-10-22 Christie's
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Record last updated May 27, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Preparing Breakfast, c.1862 (Hills no. 13.3.8)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=140 (accessed on April 19, 2024).