enlarge
Photo: Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.
⊠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
View all works in this theme »
Hills no. 13.3.5
The Woodcutter's Lunch
Alternate titles: Study of a Woodsman Eating; Woodman's Lunch—Fryeburg, Maine; Woodsman Eating
c.1860–68
Oil on paper board
13 1/4 x 10 5/8 in. (33.7 x 27 cm)
Initialed lower left: E.J.
loading
Exhibitions
Wildenstein & Co, New York, Eastman Johnson, Summer 1948. (Wildenstein 1948), no. 9, as
Woodsman Eating.
Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art, Los Angeles, Winslow Homer 1836–1910, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906, February 4, 1949–May 7, 1950. (Exhibition catalogue: LACMA 1949), no. 13, as
Study of a Woodsman Eating. Traveled to: Denver Art Museum, Denver, 1949; Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Takoma Art League, Takoma, Washington, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949).
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, American Paintings for Public and Private Collections, December 4, 1967–January 13, 1968, no. 61, illus.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 53, b/w illus., p. 52, as
The Woodcutter's Lunch. Traveled to: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, June 7–July 22, 1972; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, August 15–September 30, 1972; Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, October 20–December 3, 1972.
References
Art News (Summer 1948), p. 49
.
Eastman Johnson. New York:
Wildenstein,
1948.
Exhibition catalogue (1948 Wildenstein & Co.), no. 9, n.p., as
Woodsman Eating.
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York:
Clarkson N. Potter,
1972.
Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), no. 53, p. 52 illus., as
The Woodcutter's Lunch.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-08-05
Examination notes: Pink colors. Outlines on silhouette. Pinkish-brown background. Pink, sienna brown, golden yellows. Whites brushed behind head. Brown allowed to show through—gives life. Eye is not shown—it would hardly be visible anyway. Face is not fussed over. Light, deft strokes suggest foliage.
loading
Record last updated July 28, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "The Woodcutter's Lunch, c.1860–68 (Hills no. 13.3.5)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=143 (accessed on March 28, 2024).