Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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25.2 Women Outdoors
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. 25.2.9
Baur no. 212
Elvira in Mantilla at Nantucket (Elvira Lindsay Johnson)
Alternate title: Elvira L. Johnson
1874, October 22
Locale: Nantucket, Massachusetts
Oil on board
9 x 14 in. (22.9 x 35.6 cm) (sight)
Initialed and dated lower left: E.J./Oct. 22–74
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Markings
Inscription, verso: This picture of/my mother Elvira Lindsay Johnson/was painted at Nantucket by/her brother in law Eastman Johnson./It is given to her namesake and/granddaughter Elvira Lindsay/Johnson Elbrick by her son./Alfred Johnson/Washington DC/January 10 – 1960
Provenance
Elvira Lindsay Johnson Elbrick, Washington, District of Columbia, his daughter, January 10, 1960 (by descent)
References
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. 69, no. 212, as Elvira L. Johnson.
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-05
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Johnson, Elvira Lindsay
Biography:
Elvira Lindsay Johnson (1838–1908). Wife of Johnson’s brother Philip Carrigan Johnson, Jr.; mother of Alfred Wilkinson Johnson and Phillip L. Johnson.
Keywords
- Portrait pose:
- Portrait sitter families:
Record last updated May 17, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Elvira in Mantilla at Nantucket (Elvira Lindsay Johnson), 1874, October 22 (Hills no. 25.2.9)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=343 (accessed on November 6, 2024).