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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. © 2021
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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. 21.1.14
Girl with Black Straw Hat Warming Her Hands Before a Stove
Alternate titles: possibly Getting Warm; possibly Warming Hands; A Cold Day; Child Warming Hands; Child with Stove; Girl Warming Her Hands by Stove; Portrait of Daughter; Warming Her Hands
1871
Oil on canvas
17 3/4 x 14 1/8 in. (45.1 x 35.9 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson/1871
Description / Remarks
Hills opinion letter, 2006: "The little girl stands in profile before a glowing, pot-belly stove."
Markings
Inscribed on verso of frame in ink (modern): top rung 17063
Provenance
Possibly Robert Morrison Olyphant, New York, by 1867 or 1876
[The Anderson Galleries, New York, January 6–7, 1914, A Collection of Modern Paintings by American and Foreign Artists from the Estate of Henry Hilton; also consignments from Mrs. George L. Nichols, J. Scott Boyd, and J. F. Alexander, no. 44 (as A Cold Day)]
R. M. Parker, January 7, 1914 (by purchase)
Wildenstein and Company, New York, by 1945
Mrs. Charles E. Marsch, 1946 (by purchase)
Private collection, by 2006 (by descent)
[Sotheby's, November 29, 2006, Sale 8249, lot 141 (as Warming Her Hands)]
F. E. Keeler III, November 29, 2006 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
1872a Century Association
Century Association, New York, January 13, 1872, no. 7, as Girl with Black Straw Hat Warming Her Hands Before a Stove.1876c Century Association
Century Association, New York, May 6, 1876, no. 21, [possibly, as Warming Hands].1876 NAD and Met
National Academy of Design and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The New York Centennial Loan Exhibition, June 23–November 10, 1876, no. 243, [possibly, as Warming Her Hands, owner R. M. Olyphant].References
Tuckerman 1867
Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the American Artists: American Artist Life. New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867, p. 625 [possibly, as Getting Warm, owner R. M. Olyphant, Esq, N. Y.]Levy 1914
Levy, Florence N., ed. American Art Directory. Vol. XI. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1914, p. 492, as A Cold Day.Anderson Galleries 1914a
A Collection of Modern Paintings by American and Foreign Artists; From the Estate of Henry Hilton…Also Consignments from Mrs. George L. Nichols, J. Scott Boyd, and J. F. Alexander. New York: Anderson Galleries, January 1914. Sale catalogue, p. 18, no. 44, as A Cold Day.Douglass 1999
Douglass, Julie M. "Lifetime Exhibition History." In Eastman Johnson: Painting America, by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 261-262 [as Girl with Black Straw Hat Warming Her Hands Before a Stove, and possibly Warming Her Hands and/or Warming Hands].Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2006-08-31
Examination notes: Frame: keys are rounded; side keys in front of back keys. Girl: eyes in shadow—fuzzy but they read well. (Used loupe.) Touches of coral red—lips, cheeks, nose, tips of fingers (typical of EJ). Dark brown coat—criss-cross strokes typical. Background: typical slapdash strokes of thin ochre. Stove: very precise with feet in gravel (?) Ice pick—trompe l'oeil. Highlights on stove—grey—good. Brown hat—also criss-cross strokes. Cherry red leggings. Highlights on shoe. Turquoise mitten hanging down. Fingers—long and delicate—nicely done. White trim on mittens. Straight brown lines for light brown floorboards. Scraggly hair. Low table—thinly painted. Pentimenti of wall. Two books and apple. Ledge: school bell. Four horizontal books plus three vertical books. Chimney behind stove: bricks exposed in various places. Girl is about three years old.
Keywords
- Subject matter:
- Stoves »
Record last updated November 5, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Girl with Black Straw Hat Warming Her Hands Before a Stove, 1871 (Hills no. 21.1.14)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=288 (accessed on April 18, 2024).