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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Entry
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Photo: Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
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13.7 Maine Haylofts, 1870s
In 1877, and possibly 1878, Johnson visited his sister Harriet May and her family in Kennebunkport, Maine. He found a delightful subject in the games the children played in the barn. For Johnson it was another opportunity to render darkened interiors, from which figures emerge, with sunlight shining through loft doors and playing off the partially illuminated figures and objects in the foreground. It is quite likely that many of the paintings were finished in his New York studio. —PH
Hills no. 13.7.7
Baur no. 77
Barn Swallows
Alternate title: possibly Barn Swallows, A Group of Children
1878
Locale: Kennebunkport, Maine
Oil on canvas
27 1/8 x 22 1/4 in. (68.9 x 56.5 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: Eastman Johnson/1878
Description / Remarks
Baur 1940, p. 47, note for Baur no. 112, In the Hayloft: "The scene is the same as that in nos. 77 [this painting], 102, 135, pp. 47, 48. It is the barn at Kennebunkport, Maine, on a farm rented by the May family during the 1870's. Mrs. May was Harriet Johnson, a sister of the painter, and her three children with their friends were painted in this series during Johnson's visits to them in the summer."
Markings
Inscribed on verso: Barn Swallows—Mary K. Johnson from E.J.
Provenance
Mary Kimball Johnson, sister of the artist
Abraham Heebner Wintersteen, her nephew-in-law (husband of Lucretia May, daughter of the artist's sister Harriet)
John S. Wintersteen, his son
Bernice Marilla McIlhenny Wintersteen, his wife
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1953 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 77, as Barn Swallows.1972 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 95, b/w illus., p. 85, as Barn Swallows. Traveled to: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, June 7–July 22, 1972; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, August 15–September 30, 1972; Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, October 20–December 3, 1972.2006 Society of the Four Arts
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, American Cornucopia, January 20–February 26, 2006.2014 Fondation de l'Hermitage
Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland, La peinture americaine: 1830–1900, June 27–October 26, 2014.References
Wilson and Fiske 1888
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography Vol. III: Grinnell–Lockwood. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1888, p. 442, as possibly Barn Swallows, A Group of Children.Brush and Pencil 1906
"The Necrology of Art." Brush and Pencil 17, no. 5 (May 1906), p. 106 [possibly, as Barn Swallows].Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 12, addendum "Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as Barn Swallows].Baur 1940
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), pp. 47, 63, no. 77, as Barn Swallows.Ingersoll 1954
Ingersoll, R. Sturgis. "Review of the Year: Presented at the Annual Meeting on June 14, 1954." The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin 49, no. 242 (1954), p. 57, as Barn Swallows.Hills 1972a
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 85, as Barn Swallows.Scott, Dugan, and Paschetto 1994
Scott, Curtis R., Owen Hess Dugan, and John Paschetto, eds. Paintings from Europe and the Americas in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: A Concise Catalogue. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1994, p. 286.4, as Barn Swallows.Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1969-04
Examination notes: Flat modeling of clothes (cf. Homer).
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Record last updated January 30, 2024. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Barn Swallows, 1878 (Hills no. 13.7.7)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=367 (accessed on May 4, 2024).