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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
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21.1 Girls Indoors
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 no. 21.1.13
Baur no. 111 / 1907 Sale no. 32
"I'm the Tallest"
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts title: I'm the Tallest
Alternate title: "I'm Tallest"
c.1870–79
Oil on board
17 1/2 x 11 in. (44.5 x 27.9 cm)
Initialed lower left: E.J.; verso: E. J.
1907 Estate Sale 
No. 32: "Two small girls are standing back to back, comparing their heights. One of them is slender, the other a little full in figure, and the latter, raising herself as high as she can, dominates her companion in stature."
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 17 ½ inches; width, 11 inches."
[Annotation: “80.00”]
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 17 ½ inches; width, 11 inches."
[Annotation: “80.00”]
Labels
Label on verso, in ink: "I'm the Tallest"/Eastman Johnson/65 W 55th
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. 32 (as "I'm the Tallest")]
Thomas Hamlin Hubbard
Sibyl Emma Hubbard (Mrs. Herbert Seymour) Darlington, La Jolla, California, his daughter, by 1940
Sibyl Darlington (Mrs. Jean Pierre) Bernard, Annapolis, Maryland, her daughter
Sibyl Julia Bernard O'Malley, her daughter
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 2006 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1904a Century Association
Century Association, New York, January 9, 1904, as I'm the Tallest.1904 Lotos Club
Lotos Club, New York, Exhibition of Paintings by the Artist Members of the Lotos Club, February 27, 1904. (Exhibition catalogue: Lotos Club 1904), no. 28, as "I'm Tallest".1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as I'm the Tallest.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. 7.1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 111, as I'm the Tallest.References
Lotos Club 1904
Exhibition of Paintings by the Artist Members of the Lotos Club. New York: Lotos Club, February 27, 1904. Exhibition catalogue (1904 Lotos Club), p. 5, no. 28, as "I'm Tallest".New York Times 1907a
"Eastman Johnson's Paintings Shown: Genre Pictures of the Old School at the Century." New York Times, February 11, 1907.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. 32, as "I'm the Tallest".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), pp. 46, 65, no. 111, as I'm the Tallest.Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-06-26; 2008-11-26 (PAFA)
Examination notes: 1971-06-26: Very pale blue grey background. Left girl light sugar brown dress, red hose, dark brown boots. Right girl: grey coat with red sleeves, red patch pocket and red stripe. Greenish stripe and greyish ground. Pale pink faces similar to Capt. Coleman oil.
2008-11-26: Thinly painted graphite along edges of dresses—pale background.
2008-11-26: Thinly painted graphite along edges of dresses—pale background.
Record last updated June 29, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. ""I'm the Tallest", c.1870–79 (Hills no. 21.1.13)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=283 (accessed on April 25, 2024).