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, 2022: Although John I. H. Baur owned and annotated a copy of the catalogue of Johnson's 1907 Estate Sale, he did not include this work in his own 1940 catalogue listing; he must have obtained it after publication.
"Signed at the lower right, E. J.
Height, 22 inches; width, 10 ½ inches."
[Annotation: “37.50”]
1988-11-10: Face: hollows of eyes very pronounced. Very heavy dabs of paint on face—touch of yellow on cheek. (Brown undertone shows through.) Full lips—don't see traces of graphite—perhaps around eyes. Eyes—deftly done—can see the expression. Doll—very sketchy—unfinished. Brown (white and sienna) background. Dress (brown-black) laid on in an arbitrary angle. Picturesque bustle (bow?) in back.
Ethel Eastman Johnson Conkling (1870–1931). Daughter of Johnson. Married Alfred Ronalds Conkling (m. 1896); after Conkling died, married William H. Holden (m. 1922) and settled abroad. Mother of three daughters, only one of whom had her own children. Ethel was Johnson’s frequent model in his genre scenes of children.
- Subject matter
: - Dolls »