Catalogue Entry
⊠31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men
When Johnson returned to the United States, he not only painted genre paintings but he also continued to paint portraits, which gave him a steady income. After 1880 Johnson turned to portraiture almost exclusively. During the 1880s and 1890s he painted businessmen, lawyers, university presidents, and three U.S. presidents from life. At times he also painted their wives and children.
He was also commissioned to paint posthumous portraits, often from photographs. These portraits by and large do not have the sparkle and active brushwork of those done from life. It seems that the demand for portraits of business and civic leaders (and members of exclusive men’s clubs) was so high that portrait painters would often make copies of each other’s paintings to satisfy the market for such images. In many instances, it has been difficult to render opinions for such paintings. —PH
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Hills no. 31.1.232
Edward Mortimer Archibald
Alternate titles: Portrait of a Gentleman; Sir Edward Archibald
c.1883
Oil
[dimensions unknown]
Provenance
Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald, by 1883
Exhibitions
1883 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, 1883. (Exhibition catalogue: NAD 1883), no. 287, as
Portrait of a Gentleman, owner Sir Edw. Archibald
.
References
NAD 1883
Kurtz, Charles M. Illustrated Art Notes upon the Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design. New York:
National Academy of Design,
1883.
Exhibition catalogue (1883 NAD), p. 50, no. 287, as
Sir Edward Archibald, "No. 287 is a portrait of Sir Edward Archibald, by Eastman Johnson, N. A."
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Archibald, Edward Mortimer
Biography: Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald (1810–1884). British Consul to New York, 1857–1883.
Archibald, Edward Mortimer
Record last updated February 15, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Edward Mortimer Archibald, c.1883 (Hills no. 31.1.232)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=1825 (accessed on May 18, 2024).
