Catalogue Entry

No. 51: "A little girl, reaching as high as she can, holds a large shell to the ear of her grandfather, who stoops over, supporting himself with both hands on his knees. With upturned face and eager expression she watches the old man, who is evidently affecting a pleased surprise at the noises of the sea which come to him from the depths of the shell. The little girl is dressed in a blue pinafore, with a ruffle at the neck, high shoes and short socks, and the old man is in his shirt-sleeves, with loose brown waistcoat and trousers. In the background is suggested a fireplace.
"The day after this picture was exhibited a charming poem was published in the Zeitung entitled 'Was sagt die Muschel?'"
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 21 inches; width, 17 inches."
[Annotation: “165.00 / W. B. Cogswell"]

Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)

[The artist's estate sale, American Art Association, New York, February 26–27, 1907, no. 51 (as What the Shell Says)]

William Browne Cogswell, Syracuse, New York, husband of the artist's niece, Mary Naomi Johnson Cogswell (daughter of the artist's brother Reuben), February 26, 1907 (by purchase)

Cora Browning Cogswell, his wife, 1921 (by bequest)

Florence Pearl and Elizabeth C. Browning, Syracuse, New York, her sisters, 1936 (by bequest)

Douthitt Galleries, New York, by 1942 (as Listening to the Shell)

Thomas Gilcrease, Oklahoma, 1942 (by purchase)

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1955 (by gift)

Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Art Center Inaugural Exhibition, December 5, 1958–January 31, 1959. (Exhibition catalogue: Oklahoma Art Center 1958), no. 55, as Listening to the Shell.

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. 51, as What the Shell Says.

"Eastman Johnson Sale." American Art News 5, no. 20 (March 2, 1907), p. 3, as What the Shell Says.

Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 13, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as What the Shells Say].

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. 66, no. 145, as What the Shell Says.

Oklahoma Art Center Inaugural Exhibition. Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Art Center, 1958. Exhibition catalogue (1958 Oklahoma Art Center), n.p., no. 55, as Listening to the Shell.

The American Scene 2, no. 3 (Fall 1959), p. 8, illus., as Listening to the Shell.

"Mary Cable, Bringing Up Baby." American Heritage 24 (December 1972), p. 64.

Douglass, Julie M. "Lifetime Exhibition History." In Eastman Johnson: Painting America, by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, p. 266, as What the Shell Says.