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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 Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Sheet (recto)
Sheet (recto)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Sheet (verso)
Sheet (verso)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Inscription (recto)
Inscription (recto)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Inscription (verso)
Inscription (verso)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Frame
Frame
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Tear (recto)
Tear (recto)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10). Tear (verso)
Tear (verso)
Photo: Courtesy of Skinner, Inc.
[ 45.5 U.S. Later Portrait Drawings, Children and Adolescents ]info
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45.5 U.S. Later Portrait Drawings, Children and Adolescents

When Johnson returned from Europe late in 1855 and moved in with his family in Washington, D.C., he began receiving portrait commissions. Like the commissioned drawings done earlier, Johnson generally used charcoal (named in some records as black chalk) with touches of white and created a strong chiaroscuro for his sitters. In his later professional years as a painter of oil few portraits of children are recorded. His art commanded high prices; perhaps families were then reluctant to include their children in sittings for portrait drawings. —PH

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Hills no. 45.5.10
Philip J. Wilson
Alternate title: Likeness of Philip J. Wilson as a Young Child
1856, March 16
Locale: Likely Washington, D.C.
Graphite on paper, on verso of a page from an illustrated times tables rhyme from a children's arithmetic book
Image: 5 x 3 3/4 in. (12.7 x 9.5 cm) (oval)
Sheet: 7 7/8 x 6 in. (20 x 15.2 cm)
Dated lower center: Mch.16./56; inscribed on verso in pencil: Likeness of/P.J. Wilson/by E. Johnson
Private collection
Provenance
Philip Johnson Wilson, Jr., son of the sitter, nephew of the artist (by descent)
Private collection (by descent in the family of the sitter)
Skinner, Inc., Boston, September 25, 2020, Fine Paintings & Sculpture, lot 49 (as Likeness of Philip J. Wilson as a Young Child), offered with Letters from Eastman Johnson; did not sell
Private collection (same as above)
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Wilson, Philip Johnson, Sr.
Biography:

Philip Johnson Wilson, Sr. (1854–1926). Nephew of Johnson; son of Johnson's sister Judith and her husband James G. Wilson (both of whom were portrayed by Johnson). Graduated from Yale University in 1877; married in 1894.

Keywords
Record last updated September 8, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Philip J. Wilson, 1856, March 16 (Hills no. 45.5.10)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1737 (accessed on April 28, 2024).