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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

Catalogue Entry

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[ 23.0 Children and Pets ]info
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23.0 Children and Pets

A traditional theme in genre painting, but also seen in children’s portraits, are children interacting with their pets. Pets, then and now, were given to children to encourage responsibility and even empathy toward other creatures. Pictures in the theme Maine Haylofts (13.7) also include children and pets. —PH

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Hills no. 23.0.6
Feeding the Lamb
Alternate titles: possibly A Portrait—Girl with Lamb; possibly Girl with Sheep
c.1875
Locale: Nantucket, Massachusetts
Oil on board
10 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (27.3 x 26 cm)
Inscribed verso, upper left: Mr. Hartman/Compts/Mrs. EJ; center: Feeding the Lamb/By Eastman Johnson; upper center: 5431
Present whereabouts unknown
Description / Remarks

Hills, 2021: Two inscriptions of the name Hartman on the verso of this sketch suggest that Mrs. Johnson gave it to American art critic Sadakichi Hartmann in connection with his writing about the finished painting Girl in Landscape with Two Lambs, 1875 (Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts) in "Eastman Johnson: American Genre Painter," The International Studio, vol. 34, 1908, p. 110.

Hills opinion letter, 2001: "Although Feeding the Lamb is a sketch, Johnson shows his characteristic skill in handling the girl's form, the lamb close to her, those in the distance, and the moors, sea and sky. Her face has a sweet expression as she looks down at the lamb to feed it."

Markings
Label on verso: Hartman/Collection/from the Eastman/Johnson Estate/early seventies/75-
Provenance
Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)
Likely Sadakichi Hartmann, New York, c. 1908 (by gift)
[Doyle, New York, May 22, 2001, American and European Paintings and Sculpture, lot 15 (as Feeding the Lamb)]
Unidentified dealer, May 22, 2001
Private estate
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1875b Century Association
Century Association, New York, March 6, 1875, no. 2, [possibly, as A Portrait—Girl with Lamb].
1879 Brooklyn Art Association
Brooklyn Art Association, Brooklyn, New York, December 8–20, 1879, no. 141, [possibly (as Girl with Sheep)], owner W. A. White.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2001-03-15
Examination notes: Very much a sketch. Study for large, ex-Spanierman painting. Sky: pale blue over brown ground. Brush strokes helter skelter—stiff so underpainting shows through in parts of strokes. Graphite outlining most noticeable along legs. Perhaps under chin. Strokes dabbed on along hand, white sleeve, hair and face. (Hand is clumsy.) Nevertheless, a great deal of expression on her face as she looks down at the lamb.
Hills opinion letter: June 24, 2001 view »
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Record last updated August 1, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Feeding the Lamb, c.1875 (Hills no. 23.0.6)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=352 (accessed on April 26, 2024).