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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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[ 27.0 Literary/Historical ]info
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27.0 Literary/Historical

In addition to his scenes of everyday life and portraits of people, Johnson created images of historical events and figures from works of literature, drama, and music. For example, “Carry Me, and I’ll Drum You Through” was inspired by an incident from the Battle of Antietam, 1862, and Membership Vote at the Union League Club, May 11, 1876, recorded a contentious meeting in which he participated much later. His Marguerite, Cosette, and Minnehaha are personifications of fictional heroines from novels and poetry. His Boy Lincoln represents both the future United States president and the archetypical American youth who, with determination and hard work, could succeed. Johnson rendered several of these imaginative images as both paintings and drawings. These literary and historical works evince both his personal interest in those subjects and his awareness of their popularity with the broad public. —AM

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Hills no. 27.0.13
Baur no. 117a
Lincoln as a Boy
Alternate titles: possibly Boyhood of Lincoln; possibly The Boy Lincoln; possibly The Boyhood of Lincoln
1868
Oil on wood
36 x 31 in. (91.4 x 78.7 cm) (frame)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson 1868
Present whereabouts unknown
Description / Remarks

Hills, 2021: Although Baur described the medium as oil on wood, I have not seen other examples in which Johnson painted on wood. The support is more likely to be artists' board.

Baur 1940, p. 65: "Almost identical to the Boyhood of Lincoln ([Baur] no. 83, p. 41)."

 

Provenance
Possibly Louis Prang, New York, until 1870
[Possibly Leeds Art Gallery, New York, March 15, 1870, Mr. Louis Prang's Collection of Paintings, Comprising Most of the Originals after which his Celebrated Chromos were Executed, Together with Other Works of Art, American and Foreign, from Several Private Galleries, lot 139 (as The Boyhood of Lincoln)]
Possibly unidentified buyer, March 15, 1870 (by purchase)
Eugene M. Van Loan, by 1940
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1868 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, April 15–June 20, 1868. (NAD 1868), no. 366, [possibly, as The Boy Lincoln].
References
NAD 1868
New York: National Academy of Design, 1868. Exhibition catalogue (1868 NAD), no. 366 [possibly, as The Boy Lincoln].
The Albion 1868
"Fine Arts: Academy of Design." The Albion (New York) 46, no. 20 (May 16, 1868), p. 273 [possibly, as The Boy Lincoln].
New York Times 1870
"Sales of Messrs. Prang and Frost's Collection of Paintings." New York Times, March 20, 1870, p. 8 [possibly, as Boyhood of Lincoln].
New-York Daily Tribune 1870
"Mr. Prang's Collection of Paintings." New-York Daily Tribune, March 19, 1870, p. 4 [possibly, as Boyhood of Lincoln]: "Further off, occupying a conspicuous place, hung the well-known 'Boyhood of Lincoln,' Mr. Johnson's original picture, but not the one from which the chromo was taken."her off, occupying a conspicuous place, hung the well-known 'Boyhood of Lincoln,' Mr. Johnson's original picture, but not the one from which the chromo was taken."
Leeds Art Galleries 1870a
Catalogue of Mr. Louis Prang's Collection of Paintings: Comprising Most of the Originals after which His Celebrated Chromos Were Executed, Together with Other Works of Art, American and Foreign, from several Private Galleries. New York: Leeds Art Galleries, March 15–16, 1870. Sale catalogue, p. 25, no. 139 [possibly, as The Boyhood of Lincoln]: "This picture formed the main attraction of the 43rd Academy Exhibition, (1868)."
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), p. 65, no. 117a, as Lincoln as a Boy.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Lincoln, Abraham
Biography:

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). Sixteenth president of the United States, 1861–1865.

Lincoln, Abraham
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Keywords
Record last updated December 29, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Lincoln as a Boy, 1868 (Hills no. 27.0.13)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=460 (accessed on May 2, 2024).