Johnson’s daughter, Ethel, was born in May 1870, and it is not surprising that Johnson would use her (but not exclusively) as a model for the many pictures of young girls in interiors—playing with dolls, warming their hands by a stove, reading, sleeping. Such pictures often include the same furniture, such as the prie dieu (church prayer bench or kneeler) seen in Family Cares and The Tea Party. Because they were genre paintings, not portraits, Johnson freely renders the facial features. Thus, it is not surprising that for paintings done circa 1873, the bodily types of the girls look like three-year-olds; whereas those done circa 1878, look more like eight-years-olds. —PH
Hills, 2021: Regarding the family memories stated in the Phoenix Art Museum catalogue: Ethel may have posed for the figure but Johnson may have used a photograph to limn the face.
Phoenix Art Museum: Collection Highlights, 2002: "According to family tradition passed on by the donor, this image of her great aunt was commissioned posthumously (for three thousand dollars) because Clara Hall had died of diphtheria at the age of three while traveling across the continent by train. However, the pretty little girl with golden locks could just as easily be the artist's only daughter [Ethel], who was born in 1870."
Clara Hall (life dates unknown).
- Subject matter:
- Dolls »
- Tea parties »