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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Entry
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20.1 Boys Indoors
Young boys have been a traditional staples of genre painting. To patrons of art during the mid-nineteenth century these youths recalled memories of their own growing years in which innocence was becoming more and more modified by mischievous cunning. —PH
Hills no. 20.1.6
The Culprit
Palmer Museum of Art of the Pennsylvania State University title: Little Boy on a Stool
Alternate titles: possibly Sulks; possibly The Sulky Boy; Boy in Corner
1861
Oil on canvas
12 1/8 x 10 1/8 in. (30.8 x 25.7 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/186[1 or 7] [Although the date in this inscription has been interpreted both ways, "1" is assumed to be correct based on the inscribed date of 1861 on Sulky Boy at School and Little Boy on a Stool, Johnson's other versions of this painting.]
Description / Remarks
American Art Association sale catalogue, 1891: "The bad little scholar is seated on the tall fool's stool in a corner of the school-room. He is a sturdy little, crop-headed, apple-cheeked fellow, and evidently not yet repentant. He wears a blue suit and boots. One hand is in his breeches pocket. The other is against his lips as if to repress his sobs. The book from which his lesson has not been learned is on the floor. On the walls hang the coats, caps, and satchels of his schoolmates, to whose industrious study he is made an example."
The Albion, April 13, 1861: “It is otherwise again with no. 374 [as with Johnson’s The Papers—Portraits and Husking], in the Fourth Gallery, ‘The Culprit,’ a young urchin perched in a corner upon the high stool of repentance, just as nice a bit, as artistic, as full of character, as two-thirds of the Frères and others of the French school, concerning which the Town goes into raptures, and for which it pays such high prices.”
Markings
Inscriptions on stretcher: CA 5234 [and] A20178½
Labels
Verso, upper right, sticker on frame: 55929; Kennedy Galleries label: Stock no. A20178½ neg no. T.1282
Provenance
George Whitney, Philadelphia
[American Art Galleries, New York, December 16–18, 1885, The Collection of Modern Paintings, Etc. formed by the Late Mr. George Whitney of Philadelphia, no. 110 (as The Culprit)]
J. F. Sutton, December 17, 1885 until at least 1886 (by purchase)
George Ingraham Seney, New York, by April 1887 until at least 1891
[American Art Association, New York, February 11, 1891, Mr. George I. Seney's Important Collection of Modern Paintings, no. 22 (as The Culprit)]
Mrs. S. D. Warren, Boston, February 11, 1891 (by purchase)
[American Art Association, New York, January 8–9, 1903, The Collection of the Late Mrs. S. D. Warren, no. 33 (as The Culprit)]
M. Knoedler & Co., New York, January 8 or 9, 1903
Latendorf Bookshop, New York, until October 1957
[M. Knoedler & Co., New York]
C. Lauer Ward, October 1957 (by purchase)
Michael Ward
Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, July 1975–1976
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, December 1976
Jean and Alvin Snowiss, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, December 1976 (by purchase)
Palmer Museum of Art of the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 2008 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1861 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, March 20–April 25, 1861. (NAD 1861), no. 374, as The Culprit.1870 Century Association
Century Association, New York, January 10, 1870, [possibly, as Boy in a Corner].1873b NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, April 15–June 7, 1873. (Exhibition catalogue: NAD 1873), no. 203, [possibly, as The Sulky Boy].1875 Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition
Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition, Chicago, 1875, no. 210, [possibly, as Sulks].1886b Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Exhibition in Honor of the Representatives of the French Government, Attending the Inauguration of the Statue of Liberty, October 27, 1886, no. 35, as The Culprit, owner J. F. Sutton.1887 Brooklyn Art Association
Brooklyn Art Association, Brooklyn, New York, Mr. George I. Seney's Collection of Paintings on Exhibition at the Brooklyn Art Association, in Aid of Building Fund of The Brooklyn Home for Aged Men, April 16–28, 1887. (Brooklyn Art Association 1887), no. 112, as The Culprit.1887 Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition
Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition, Chicago, September 7–October 22, 1887, no. 240, as The Culprit, owner George I. Seney.2002 Palmer Museum of Art
Palmer Museum of Art, University Park, Pennsylvania, An Endless Panorama of Beauty: Selections from the Jean and Alvin Snowiss Collection of American Art, November 12, 2002–May 16, 2003.References
NAD 1861
New York: National Academy of Design, 1861. Exhibition catalogue (1861 NAD), no. 374, as The Culprit.The Albion 1861
"Fine Arts." The Albion (New York) 39, no. 15 (April 13, 1861), p. 177: “It is otherwise again with no. 374 [as with Johnson’s The Papers—Portraits and Husking], in the Fourth Gallery, ‘The Culprit,’ a young urchin perched in a corner upon the high stool of repentance, just as nice a bit, as artistic, as full of character, as two-thirds of the Frères and others of the French school, concerning which the Town goes into raptures, and for which it pays such high prices," as The Culprit.NAD 1873
New York: National Academy of Design, 1873. Exhibition catalogue (1873b NAD), no. 203 [possibly, as The Sulky Boy].The Aldine 1873
"Art: Annual Exhibition of N. A. of Design." The Aldine 6 (June 1873), p. 127 [possibly: "The South Room detains us longest. It contains the best figure pieces in the Exhibition, which are Eastman Johnson's 'Sulky Boy,' and 'Catching the Bee,' and 'The Yankee Pedlar,' by T. W. Wood…," as Sulky Boy].AAG 1885b
Catalogue of the Collection of Modern Paintings etc, Formed by the Late Mr. George Whitney of Philadelphia. New York: American Art Galleries, December 1885. Sale catalogue, p. 45, no. 110, as The Culprit.AAA 1891
Catalogue of Mr. George I. Seney's Important Collection of Modern Paintings. New York: American Art Association, February 11–13, 1891. Sale catalogue, p. 140, no. 22, as The Culprit, "10 x 12…Signed at the right, E. Johnson, 1867".AAA 1903b
A Descriptive Catalogue of Paintings, Pastels, and Water-Colors Collected by the Late Mrs. S. D. Warren of Boston. New York: American Art Association, 1903. Sale catalogue, pp. ix, xiv, no. 33, as The Culprit, "Signed lower right 'Eastman Johnson, 1867.' Height, 11 1/2 inches; width, 9 inches. From the George I. Seney Collection, 1891."Magazine Antiques 1976a
The Magazine Antiques (New York) 110 (August 1976), p. 232 (Kennedy Galleries advertisement, reproduction), as Little Boy on a Stool.Mazow 2002
Mazow, Leo G. "Eastman Johnson." In An Endless Panorama of Beauty: Selections from the Jean and Alvin Snowiss Collection of American Art, edited by Joyce Robinson. University Park, PA: Palmer Museum of Art, 2002. Exhibition catalogue.Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1975-02-01
Examination notes: Caps hanging on wall. 1975-02-01: Oil/canvas, 12 1/8 x 10 1/8". Michael Ward owned. Turquoise suit. "1861" Hills date. Gray cap on wall; dark red cloth; umbrella on left.
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Record last updated September 28, 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 Culprit, 1861 (Hills no. 20.1.6)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=240 (accessed on April 28, 2024).