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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Entry
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13.5 Maple Sugar Camps, 1860s—Small Scenes
The making of maple sugar was a traditional industry for Maine people, as it still is today. Johnson specifically traveled to Maine, his birthplace, in the early spring of the early 1860s to study and watch farmers as they tapped the trees, gathered sap, and then set up camps to boil the sap down to thick, sweet maple syrup. As scholar Brian Allen has pointed out, during the Civil War years, maple syrup was a patriotic alternative to the sugar cane sugar of Southern plantations [See Allen 2004]. Allen quotes the Philadelphia physician and abolitionist Benjamin Rush, who said in 1792: “I cannot help contemplating a maple sugar tree without a species of veneration, for I behold in it a happy means of rendering commerce and slavery of African brethren in sugar islands as unnecessary” [See Allen 2004, p. 47].
The camps became hubs of dancing, flirting, and jocular humor, and included children mingling with adults. Although Johnson worked on making sketches for years, he never completed a finished version of the “larger & more pretenscious [sic] sugaring picture” that he wrote to patron John Coyle he had planned to make. —PH
Hills no. 13.5.9
Baur no. 41 / 1907 Sale no. 108
At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling
Alternate titles: At Camp: Spinning Yarns and Whittling; At the Camp, Spinning Yarns and Whittling; Spinning Yarn & Whittling; Spinning Yarns and Whittling
c.1861–65
Locale: Near Fryeburg, Maine
Oil on composition board
19 x 23 in. (48.3 x 58.4 cm)
Initialed lower left: E.J.
Description / Remarks
Hills, 2021: The evidence for the date range of 1861–65 is a letter from Johnson to patron John Coyle dated March 13, 1864. Johnson states that he plans to do a "larger & more pretenscious" [sic] sugaring picture and is "starting for the country to make studies for a month or six weeks"; that this is his fourth annual trip to Maine to do so; and that he "hope[s] to paint it next autumn & winter."
1907 Estate Sale 
No. 108: "Seated on a rough log horse near the great sugar kettle, which is steaming over a log fire, is an old gray-bearded man, apparently a well-to-do farmer, or possibly the proprietor of the camp, engaged in conversation with a laborer who busily whittles a bit of pine wood, his smiling face half concealed by the broad visor of a woolen cap. Beyond the figures is a winter landscape, suggesting a large forest."
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; length, 23 inches"
[Annotation: “57.00 / Cogswell”]
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; length, 23 inches"
[Annotation: “57.00 / Cogswell”]
Provenance
Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)
[The artist's estate sale, American Art Association, New York, February 26–27, 1907, no. 108 (as At the Camp - Spinning Yarns and Whittling)]
William Browne Cogswell, Syracuse, New York, husband of the artist's niece, Mary Naomi Johnson Cogswell (daughter of the artist's brother Reuben), February 27, 1907 (by purchase)
Cora Browning Cogswell, his wife, 1921 (by bequest)
Florence Pearl and Elizabeth C. Browning, Syracuse, New York, her sisters, 1936 (by bequest)
[Douthitt Galleries, New York, 1940]
[John Levy Galleries, 1944]
[Norman Hirschl, New York, 1946]
[M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1961]
J. William Middendorf II, Greenwich, Connecticut
Edward Speelman, Ltd., London, by 1971
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, by 1999
Private collection, Philadelphia
[Sotheby's, December 1, 2004, Sale 8032, lot 99 (as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling)]
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, December 1, 2004 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as Spinning Yarns and Whittling.1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 41, b/w illus., Pl. XIII, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.1940 Douthitt Gallery
The Douthitt Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson: The Keystone Artist, March 28–April 30, 1940. (Douthitt Gallery 1940), no. 4, illus., p. 11.1942 John Levy Galleries
John Levy Galleries, New York, Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, April 8–30, 1942. (John Levy Galleries 1942), no. 7, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.1944a John Levy Galleries
John Levy Galleries, New York, America in the 19th Century: Its People, Pleasures, and Pursuits, May 16–June 9, 1944. (John Levy Galleries 1944), no. 5, as Spinning Yarn & Whittling.1944 Philadelphia Art Alliance
Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, Eastman Johnson: Oil Paintings and Drawings, October 9–November 12, 1944. (Exhibition catalogue: Philadelphia Art Alliance 1944), no. 2.1946 M. Knoedler & Co.
M. Knoedler & Co, New York, Paintings and Drawings by Eastman Johnson, January 7–26, 1946. (Exhibition catalogue: M. Knoedler & Co. 1946), no. 13. Traveled to: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, March 1946 (California Palace 1946).1967 Baltimore Museum
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, American Paintings and Historical Prints from the Middendorf Collection, July 9–September 24, 1967, no. 29, illus., p. 25. Traveled to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 4–November 26, 1967.1972 Kennedy Galleries
Kennedy Galleries, New York, American Masters: 18th and 19th Centuries, March 22–April 8, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Kennedy Galleries 1972), no. 43, as At Camp: Spinning Yarns and Whittling.1972 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 33, illus., p. 50, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling, owner Edward Speelman Ltd, London. 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, 1972.1999 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, Eastman Johnson: Painting America, October 29, 1999–February 6, 2000. (Exhibition catalogue: Carbone and Hills 1999), no. 103, illus., p. 230, as At the Camp, Spinning Yarns and Whittling, owner Kennedy Galleries, Inc. Traveled to: San Diego Museum of Fine Arts, San Diego, February 25–May 21, 2000; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, June 8–September 10, 2000.2004 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, Sugaring Off: The Maple Sugar Paintings of Eastman Johnson, January 18–April 18, 2004. (Allen 2004a), p. 22, illustrated fig. 10. Traveled to: Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, May 11–August 1, 2004.References
Johnson, Eastman 1864b
Eastman Johnson letter to John Coyle, March 13, 1864, Johnson states that he plans to do a "larger & more pretenscious [sic]" sugaring picture and is "starting for the country to make studies for a month or six weeks"; that this is his fourth annual trip to Maine to do so; and that he "hope[s] to paint it next autumn & winter," quoted in Selection of Artist’s Letters 1999.AAA 1907b
Catalogue of Finished Pictures, Studies, and Drawings by the Late Eastman Johnson, N.A. New York: American Art Association, February 1907. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 108, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.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), pp. 42, 61, no. 41, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.Devere 1940
Devere, Howard. "New York Exhibition Reviews." Magazine of Art (Washington, DC) 33, no. 1 (January 1940), p. 40.John Levy Galleries 1942
Exhibition of Eastman Johnson. New York: John Levy Galleries, 1942. Exhibition catalogue (1942 John Levy Galleries), n.p. (2), no. 7, as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.John Levy Galleries 1944
America in the 19th Century: Its People, Pleasures, and Pursuits. New York: John Levy Galleries, 1944. Exhibition catalogue (1944a John Levy Galleries), n.p., no. 5, as Spinning Yarn & Whittling.Bulletin of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor 1946
Macagy, Jermayne. "The Art of Eastman Johnson." Bulletin of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor 3 (March 1946), p. 97.Metropolitan Museum of Art 1967
American Paintings & Historical Prints from the Middendorf Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967, pp. 24-25, no. 29, illus.Kennedy Galleries 1972
American Masters: 18th and 19th Centuries. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Kennedy Galleries), no. 43, illus.Hills 1972a
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 50, no. 33, illus., as At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling.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. 266, as Spinning Yarns and Whittling.Selection of Artist's Letters 1999
"A Selection of the Artist's Letters." 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.Keywords
- Subject matter:
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. "At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling, c.1861–65 (Hills no. 13.5.9)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=185 (accessed on April 26, 2024).