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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Anne D. Werner
Overall, color
©1987 Christie’s Images Limited
Overall, black & white
Image Courtesy of the Frick Art Reference Library.
Verso labels
Photo: Anne D. Werner
Verso labels
Photo: Anne D. Werner
⊠
17.0 First Nations Peoples at Murray Bay, Canada, 1869
Eastman Johnson married Elizabeth Williams Buckley of Troy, New York, in Troy in June 1869. In July, he painted three pictures in the tourist destination of Murray Bay (now known as La Malbaie), Quebec, Canada, suggesting that the newlyweds had traveled northwest for their honeymoon. It is significant, and indicative of Johnson's interests, that the paintings represent First Nations Peoples and their homes, rather than the people or landscapes of the resort area. —AM
Hills no. 17.0.1
Baur no. 29 / 1907 Sale no. 7
Wigwams
Alternate title: Kentucky Mountain Corn
1869, July
Locale: Murray Bay, Quebec, Canada
Oil on artist's board
8 5/8 x 10 7/8 in. (21.9 x 27.6 cm)
Signed and dated lower right in black: E. Johnson/July/1869
This catalogue raisonné strives to reproduce the available historical information, as it was written in the period, while acknowledging that readers today may find many of these terms objectionable or racist. Please see the Racist Language/Negative Stereotypes Statement »
Description / Remarks
Hills opinion letter, 1987: "The [1907 Sale] catalogue states that the work is signed at the lower right, 'E. J., Murray Bay, July, 1869.' Today, we cannot see the 'Murray Bay;' and instead of 'E. J.' we have 'E. Johnson.' Perhaps there was some tinkering of the signature."
1907 Estate Sale 
No. 7: "This is a study of an Indian camp, showing, in a row, three skin tepees of different shapes and sizes, and a small log cabin with birch bark roof. In the foreground on the left an Indian is seated mending a snowshoe, near him is perched a tame crow, and beside the cabin two men are engaged in cooking over a fire built on the ground. The background suggests rocky precipices with underbrush growing in the crevices of the ledges."
"Signed at the lower right, E. J., Murray Bay, July, 1869
Height, 8 ½ inches; length, 10 ½ inches"
[Annotation: “52.50”]
"Signed at the lower right, E. J., Murray Bay, July, 1869
Height, 8 ½ inches; length, 10 ½ inches"
[Annotation: “52.50”]
Markings
Inscribed on verso: Kentucky Mountain Corn 8521; 7571A
Labels
Labels on verso: Kentucky Mountain "Corn” by Eastman Jo[h]nson; Paintings by American Artists/William Macbeth/Incorporated/11 East 57th Street New York 22, N.Y./Kentucky Mountain Corn/1824-Eastman Johnson-1906/(Signed and dated July, 1869); A 4103
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. 7 (as Wigwams)]
Frazier Gallery, New York, by September 1937
Norman Hirschl Gallery, New York, by 1940
John Levy Galleries, New York, by 1944
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1946
Dr. Chester J. Robertson Collection, Pelham Manor, New York, by July 1, 1949
Private collection, by December 1987
[Christie's, December 4, 1987, lot 71, The Property of a Southern Lady]
Anne D. Werner, December 4, 1987 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as Wigwams.1937 Frazier Gallery
Frazier Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins, September–October 1937. (Hirschl 1937); (Frazier Gallery 1937a), no. 13, as Kentucky Mountain Corn.1942 John Levy Galleries
John Levy Galleries, New York, Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, April 8–30, 1942. (John Levy Galleries 1942), no. 6, as Kentucky Mountain Corn.1944b John Levy Galleries
John Levy Galleries, New York, Exhibition of Romantic Landscapes by American Artists, October 24–November 18, 1944, no. 10.1944 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. 10, lent by John Levy Galleries.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. 7, as Kentucky Mountain Corn. Traveled to: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, March 1946 (California Palace 1946).References
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. 7, as Wigwams.Frazier Gallery 1937a
Frazier Gallery. Eastman Johnson: 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins. New York: Frazier Gallery, 1937. Exhibition catalogue (1937 Frazier Gallery), p. 7, no. 13, as Kentucky Mountain Corn.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. 61, no. 29, as Kentucky Mountain Corn.John Levy Galleries 1942
Exhibition of Eastman Johnson. New York: John Levy Galleries, 1942. Exhibition catalogue (1942 John Levy Galleries), n.p. (2), no. 6, as Kentucky Mountain Corn.Art Digest 1946
The Art Digest 20 (January 1, 1946), p. 8, illus.Breuning 1946
Breuning, Margaret. "Tracing the Career of Eastman Johnson." The Art Digest 20 (January 1, 1946).Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1987-10-05 Christie's
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. "Wigwams, 1869, July (Hills no. 17.0.1)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=220 (accessed on May 3, 2024).