Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Verso
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Verso labels
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25.1 Women Indoors
Johnson’s wife, Elizabeth, no doubt turned his attention to representations of women alone—either in interiors or outside. Such women are often lost in thought and suggest sentient beings with an inner life. In my interviews with descendants of Johnson’s siblings, she is presented as an independent woman. Johnson painted her portrait in which she assumes the posture of a woman who thinks on her own (also see theme 31.3). —PH
Hills no. 25.1.11
Baur no. 99
The Finishing Touch
c.1872–80
Oil on board
19 7/8 x 12 in. (50.5 x 30.5 cm)
Initialed lower right in red: E.J.
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Description / Remarks
Hills opinion letter, 2010: "The work is a very slight oil sketch of a woman with a voluminous gown standing in front of a large mirror and fixing her hair. The tones are mostly in the red range with a grey green floor covering."
Markings
Verso marking, bottom half, large: 469/8
Labels
Verso labels: upper right, possibly in Johnson's hand: The Finishing Touch/Eastman Johnson; upper center: P163/J; upper right: A291/TOX/The Finishing Touch"; center: H-11470
Provenance
Private collection, Minnesota
Exhibitions
Century Association, New York, January 10, 1874, [possibly, as Lady Before a Mirror].
Frazier Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins, September–October 1937. (Hirschl 1937); (Frazier Gallery 1937a), no. 8, as The Finishing Touch.
References
English & American XVIII Century Furniture. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, March 31 and April 1, 1939. Sale catalogue, p. 13, no. 86: "Full-length figure of a woman in a flowing cream white gown, standing before a mirror; brown and emerald green background," as The Finishing Touch.
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), p. 64, no. 99, as The Finishing Touch.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2010-05-20
Examination notes: Pencil outlining on left of neck, along right of dress. Edges of mirror. Typical turquoise at bottom. Scrubbed brushwork upper left. Light on neck at left; dark side is the underpainting (also graphite on right). Some pencil on arms, but arm very unresolved. Slight image in mirror. Light on ear. Wedge-like bun in hair. Back of dress quickly painted. Top part of bodice very bunched. Typical board.
Keywords
- Subject matter:
Record last updated September 23, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "The Finishing Touch, c.1872–80 (Hills no. 25.1.11)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=334 (accessed on April 19, 2024).