Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. © 2021
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18.0 Mother and Child
The mother and child theme in art not only has references to Christian art but also to the realities of caregiving by women. Johnson seems to have been particularly drawn to the theme as the result of his wife’s caring for their daughter, Ethel. —PH
Hills no. 18.0.10
The Peep
Alternate titles: Bo Peep; Bo Peep (The Peep); The Peep (Peek-a-Boo)
1872
Oil on paper board
22 x 25 in. (55.9 x 63.5 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson/1872
Private collection
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Description/Remarks
Hills, 2021: The child covers her mother’s face with a handerchief in the well-known child’s play called “Peek-a-Boo.” The models are likely Johnson’s wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Ethel, who would have been two years old in 1872. The prie-dieu (prayer bench) to the right was a piece of furniture Johnson brought back from Europe in 1855 and that features in many other of Johnson’s domestic scenes.
Markings
Verso label, inscribed: "Bo Peep"/ c/o Alfred Booth (illegible) Road/ (illegible) Park
Provenance
Private collection, 2008 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
Royal Academy of Arts, London, One Hundred and Fifth Royal Academy Exhibition, 1873, no. 1074.
National Academy of Design, New York, Forty-ninth Annual Exhibition, April 9–June 6, 1874. (NAD 1874), no. 371, [possibly, as Bo Peep].
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 68, b/w illus., p. 78, as The Peep. 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.
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, Faces and Places: Changing Images of Nineteenth-Century America, December 5, 1972–January 6, 1973, no. 57, illus., as The Peep.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., An American Perspective: Nineteenth-Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz Jr., October 4, 1981–January 31, 1982, no. 39, illus. Traveled to: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, March 19–May 23, 1982; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, July 1–September 26, 1982.
References
New York: National Academy of Design, 1874. Exhibition catalogue (1874 NAD), p. 25, no. 371 [possibly, as Bo Peep].
"Composition Pictures at the Academy." Appletons' Journal 11, no. 269 (May 16, 1874), p. 636 [possibly, as Bo-Peep]: "Among the most pleasing and charmingly graceful pictures in the Exhibition are two or three small paintings, by Eastman Johnson. One, called 'Bo-Peep,' is a most graceful and spirited painting of a child, who has bound a handkerchief round her mother's eyes, the child full of life and laughter, and the mother so sweet and tender as to recall one's pleasantest impressions of such situations and such a relation. Eastman Johnson, more than any artist in New York, has the happy talent to render familiar scenes with elegance of style."
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 13, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as Bo-Peep].
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. III. Detroit, MI: Appletons, 1968, p. 492.
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 78, no. 68, illus.
Rare American Masterpieces of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries. Vol. II. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1974, no. 22, illus.
An American Perspective: Nineteenth-Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1981, p. 52, fig. 39, illus.
Ayres, Lynda. "An American Perspective: Nineteenth-Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr." The Magazine Antiques (January 1982), pp. 265–66, pl. XII.
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 1970-11-17
Examination notes: Child covers mother's face with a handkerchief. Bright sunlight shines through top of child's blond hair. Light from right edge of window visible. Also light from left on side of child's face. Child has white dress and mother has black dress. Impasto on highlights. Couch covered with paisley shawl. Light on floor. Rug: red, turquoise, tan and brown. Woodwork—sienna-colored but not transparent. Bright cadmium red throw on couch.
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Keywords
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Record last updated December 3, 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 Peep, 1872 (Hills no. 18.0.10)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=231 (accessed on May 2, 2025).