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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Entry
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Photograph by Michael Agee
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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
Hills no. 27.0.18
Baur no. 134
A Prisoner of State
Clark Art Institute title: A Prisoner of the State
Alternate titles: possibly Prisoner; A Prisoner; Prisoner of State; The Prisoner of State
c.1874
Oil on board
26 1/2 x 22 in. (67.3 x 55.9 cm)
Signed lower left: E. Johnson
Description/Remarks
Baur 1940, p. 46: "The following letter, written by Johnson to the original owner in 1899, indicates probably that he did some restoration on the painting at that time. The letter reads: 'Dear Mr. Lee, I have been waiting to hear from you. Your note has just come. the 'Prisoner' is good dry and hard and can be had at any time. Perhaps you will look in on your way down.'
"One of Johnson's granddaughters, the Baroness Muriel van Reigersberg Versluys, writes that it '…was inspired by the poem 'Stone walls do not a prison make nor iron bars a cage.' A little bird was singing while sitting on the iron bars of the window.'"
The poem is "To Althea, from Prison" by Richard Lovelace, 1642.
Provenance
Homer Lee, Esq., 1899 (by purchase from the artist)
Homer Lee, New York, by 1940
David David, Inc., Philadelphia
Private collection
Private collection, Tappan, New York
[William Doyle Galleries, New York, April 24, 1985, no. 41 (as The Prisoner of State)]
Private collection, New Jersey, by 1991
Frank and Katherine Martucci, until 2013
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 2013 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1874 Yale School of Fine Arts
Yale School of Fine Arts, New Haven, Connecticut, 1874, no. 50, as The Prisoner of State.1874 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, Forty-ninth Annual Exhibition, April 9–June 6, 1874. (NAD 1874), no. 188, as A Prisoner of State, labeled "For sale."1875 Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition
Chicago Interstate Industrial Exposition, Chicago, 1875, no. 211, [possibly, as The Prisoner].1876 United States Centennial Commission
United States Centennial Commission, Philadelphia, Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, May 10–November 1876, no. 96, as Prisoner of State, owner Eastman Johnson, for sale.1877 Chicago Inter-State
Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition, Chicago, 1877. (Exhibition catalogue: Chicago Inter-State 1877), no. 51, as Prisoner of State.1877 Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club, Boston, May 2–26, 1877, no. 87, as The Prisoner of State.1881 Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club, Boston, January 29–February 19, 1881, no. 131, as A Prisoner, owner Eastman Johnson.1900 Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1900, no. 167, (as Prisonnier d'Etat [Prisoner of State]), owner Homer Lee, Esq. No. 110 per Official Illustrated Catalogue, Fine Arts Exhibit, United States of America, Paris Exposition of 1900, Boston: Noyes, Platt & Company.1901 South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition
South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition, Charleston, South Carolina, December 1, 1901–June 20, 1902, no. 220.1907a Century Association
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, [possibly, as Prisoner of State].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. 134, as The Prisoner of State, owner Homer Lee.References
NAD 1874
New York: National Academy of Design, 1874. Exhibition catalogue (1874 NAD), no. 188, as A Prisoner of State, For sale.New York Times 1875a
"Fine Art in the West: The Art Gallery of the Chicago Exposition: A Notable Collection—The Trials of the Committee—Gossip about the Pictures—M'Entee, Leutze, Eastman Johnson" [From a Special Correspondent, Chicago, September 21, 1875]. New York Times, September 26, 1875, p. 10 [possibly]: “One of the most charming pictures in the collection is Eastman Johnson’s 'Old Stage Coach’…The sunny contentment of the merry group of children takes you out of the work-a-day world…Another picture in the Johnson group—“The Prisoner”—is well known for its terrible power. It is a striking proof of versatile genius that this doomed, hungry-eyed man and the Arcadian group of boys and girls about the old stage coach should have been born from the same brain and brush.”.Centennial Exhibition 1876
Official Catalogue of the International Exhibition of 1876. Part II: Art Gallery, Annexes, and Outdoor Works of Art. Department IV: Art. Cambridge, MA: John R. Nagle & Company, 1876. Exhibition catalogue, p. 19, no. 96, as Prisoner of State, owner Eastman Johnson, for sale.Wickersham 1876
Wickersham, J. P., ed. "Centennial Buildings: The Art Gallery: Memorial Hall and Art Annex." The Pennsylvania School Journal 25, no. 2 (August 1876), p. 76: "'The Prisoner of State,' by Eastman Johnson, is unlike any of his other works, being broad in style and very soft and pleasant in color. In the mellow light striking down through a barred window in a thick stone wall, is the figure of a fine-looking gray-haired man, his face, in full light, wearing that utterly sad expression which comes with the death of hope."New York Times 1876b
G. A. R. "The Art of America: Its Exhibits at Philadelphia." New York Times, June 13, 1876, p. 1: "Eastman Johnson has in this room a charming picture of a young mother playing bo-peep with her little boy; but I prefer to pass it by that I may criticize his 'Prisoner' in Memorial Hall, which I believe to be the greatest picture he has ever painted."Chicago Inter-State 1877
Catalogue of the Paintings in the Art Gallery of the Inter-State Industrial Exposition of Chicago. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1877. Exhibition catalogue (1877 Chicago Inter-State), p. 7, no. 51, as Prisoner of State.Champlin and Perkins 1886
Champlin, John Denison, Jr., and Charles C. Perkins. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. Vol. 2. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1886, p. 351 [possibly, as Prisoner of State (1874)].Paris Exposition 1900
Paris Exposition of 1900. Official Illustrated Catalogue, Fine Arts Exhibit, United States of America, Paris Exposition of 1900. Boston: Noyes, Platt, and Company, 1900.South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition 1901/1902
Exhibition of Fine Arts: The South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition Catalogue. Charleston, SC: Lucas-Richardson Co., 1901/1902, p. 16.Low 1906
Low, Will. "Eastman Johnson—His Life and Works." Scribner's Magazine 40, no. 2 (August 1906), p. 254 [possibly, as Prisoner of State].Walton 1906
Walton, William. "Eastman Johnson, Painter." Scribner's Magazine 40 (September 1906), p. 272 [possibly, as Prisoner of State].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. 45–46, 66, no. 134, as The Prisoner of State.New York Times 1985
"Auctions." New York Times, April 19, 1985, Section C26: notice of upcoming sale at William Doyle Galleries, as The Prisoner of State.William Doyle Galleries 1985
Important 19th and 20th Century American Paintings and Sculpture. New York: William Doyle Galleries, April 24, 1985. Sale catalogue, as The Prisoner of State.The Advocate 2013
"Inness Works Gifted to the Clark." The Advocate, April 11, 2013.Related work
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Record last updated January 3, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "A Prisoner of State, c.1874 (Hills no. 27.0.18)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=463 (accessed on May 2, 2025).