Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Unknown
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26.1 Nantucket Genre—Indoors
In June 1869 Johnson married Elizabeth Buckley of Troy, New York, and the following summer he and his wife and their baby, Ethel, went to Nantucket, Massachusetts for the season. Johnson responded enthusiastically to Nantucket, which seemed to be filled with characters and activities that appealed to him, and the couple returned to the island each summer. Beside painting genre scenes of men, women, and children both indoors and outside, Johnson launched a major theme—the cranberry harvest—a time in the fall when the whole community turned out to pick the wild cranberries ripening in the bogs of Nantucket. Johnson made at least eighteen studies before crafting his major painting, The Cranberry Harvest, which was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1880. —PH
Hills no. 26.1.17
Baur no. 58 / 1907 Sale no. 21
Embers
c.1879
Locale: Nantucket, Massachusetts
Oil on canvas
13 7/8 x 12 5/8 in. (35.2 x 32.1 cm)
Signed lower right: E. Johnson
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Description/Remarks
MacGibeny, 2021: According to American Art News, "Eastman Johnson Sale," March 2, 1907, Embers was one of two works commanding the highest price ($810) at the 1907 sale of Johnson's estate. The other was his drawing The Famous Dolly [sic] Madison. The article states that Johnson received the gold medal for this painting at the Pan-American Exposition, and "A number of poems were written upon this picture when it was exhibited."
1907 Estate Sale 
No. 21: "An old man is seated in a green-painted chair close by his fireplace, resting his chin upon a stick which he holds in both hands, and gazing pensively at the embers which glow on the hearth. He wears a rusty beaver hat and a wrinkled suit of black, and the figure is in strong relief against the plaster wall of the little room. Upon the low fireplace shelf stands a Delft jar and two small candlesticks. Many beautiful poems inspired by this picture were received by the artist."
"Signed at the lower right, E. Johnson.
Height, 13 inches; width, 12 inches."
[Annotation: “810.00 / Thos. H. Hubbard”]
"Signed at the lower right, E. Johnson.
Height, 13 inches; width, 12 inches."
[Annotation: “810.00 / Thos. H. Hubbard”]
Labels
Label on back: "EMBERS, EASTMAN JOHNSON, 65 West 55TH Street, New York City"
Provenance
Private collection, by 1972 until at least 1979
Exhibitions
Lady Managers of the Garfield Hospital, Washington, D.C., Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists, March 1889. (Exhibition catalogue: Garfield Hospital Aid Association 1889), no. 66, [possibly, as Embers].
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1899, no. 169, [possibly, as Embers].
National Academy of Design, New York, April 3–May 13, 1899. (NAD 1899), no. 118, [possibly, as Embers].
Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, Summer 1901. (Pan-American Exposition 1901), no. 730, as Embers, winner of gold medal, according to American Art News.
Boston Art Club, Boston, January 5–February 2, 1901, no. 32, [possibly, as Embers].
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, [possibly, as Embers].
Frazier Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins, September–October 1937. (Hirschl 1937); (Frazier Gallery 1937a), no. 22, as Embers.
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. 58, b/w illus., Pl. XXIX, as Embers.
The Douthitt Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson: The Keystone Artist, March 28–April 30, 1940. (Douthitt Gallery 1940), no. 10, as Embers, lent by Mrs. Herbert S. Darlington.
John Levy Galleries, New York, Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, April 8–30, 1942. (John Levy Galleries 1942), no. 13, as Embers.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 101, b/w illus., p. 111, as Embers. 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.
References
Garfield Hospital Aid Association. Catalogue of the Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists Held at Washington, D.C, March, 1889. New York: J. J. Little & Co., 1889. Exhibition catalogue (1889 Lady Managers of the Garfield Hospital), p. 28, no. 66 [possibly, as Embers].
Selected Pictures by American Artists (from the Book of American Figure Painters). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1890.
New York: National Academy of Design, 1899. Exhibition catalogue (1899 NAD), no. 118 [possibly, as Embers].
Pan-American Exposition: Catalogue of the Exhibition of Fine Arts. Buffalo, NY: William A. Coffin, 1901. Exhibition catalogue (1901 Pan-American Exposition), p. 58, no. 730, as Embers.
Walton, William. "Eastman Johnson, Painter." Scribner's Magazine 40 (September 1906), pp. 271, 273, illus., as Embers.
Catalogue of Finished Pictures, Studies, and Drawings by the Late Eastman Johnson, N.A. New York: American Art Association, February 1907. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 21, as Embers.
"Eastman Johnson Sale." American Art News 5, no. 20 (March 2, 1907), p. 3, as Embers.
Frazier Gallery. Eastman Johnson: 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins. New York: Frazier Gallery, 1937. Exhibition catalogue (1937 Frazier Gallery), p. 7, no. 22, as Embers.
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. 49, 62, no. 58, as Embers.
Eastman Johnson: The Keystone Artist. New York: Douthitt Gallery, 1940. Exhibition catalogue (1940 Douthitt Gallery), no. 10, as Embers.
Exhibition of Eastman Johnson. New York: John Levy Galleries, 1942. Exhibition catalogue (1942 John Levy Galleries), n.p. (2), no. 13, as Embers.
Crosby, Everett U. Eastman Johnson at Nantucket: His Paintings and Sketches of Nantucket People and Scenes. Nantucket, MA, 1944, p. 15, C.23, as Embers.
Ames, Kenneth. "Eastman Johnson: The Failure of a Successful Artist." Art Journal 29, no. 2 (Winter 1969/1970), pp. 174–83; p 183 (captioned "from Scribner's, 1906").
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 111, no. 101, illus., as Embers.
Hills, Patricia. The Painters' America: Rural and Urban Life, 1810–1910. New York: Praeger, 1974. Exhibition catalogue (1974 Whitney Museum), p. 82, fig. 102, illus., as Embers.
Simons, Benjamin. "Eastman Johnson and His Contemporaries on Nantucket." AFAnews.com [Antiques & Fine Art Magazine], January 7, 2013.
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): c. 1970-1972
Examination notes: Candlesticks, blue vase, slim andirons, red glowing coals. Thin boards on floor. White walls behind. Plain green chair. Ruddy complexion; sharp nose.
Related work
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Myrick, Charles
Record last updated December 7, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Embers, c.1879 (Hills no. 26.1.17)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=389 (accessed on October 9, 2024).