Catalogue Entry
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
Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive files, Eastman Johnson, "Little Girl Picking Flowers," b12005265, accessed April 12, 2021: "The child has light brown hair. Chocolate brown jacket, becoming a dull light red in the highlights. White skirt and white scarf on head. Light yellow-green grass and dark blue-green grass. Slate-blue hills in background. A field of light yellow lies just in front of the hills. Tree mostly brown but showing some green, especially in upper right corner. Brown tree trunks. Light straw basket.The sky is light gray-blue above and is covered with yellow-gray-white clouds at the horizon."
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