Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné

Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, Project Manager and Co-Author

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Photo: Michael McKelvey, Courtesy of Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

[ 27.0 Literary/Historical ]

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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. 27.0.21

Baur no. 122 / 1907 Sale no. 112

Milton

Georgia Museum of Art title: Study for Milton Dictating "Paradise Lost" to His Daughters

Alternate titles: Study for Milton; The Blind Milton

c.1875–76

Oil on academy board

18 5/8 x 14 5/8 in. (47.3 x 37.1 cm)

Initialed lower left in red: E. J.

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Eva Underhill Holbrook Memorial Collection of American Art, Gift of Alfred H. Holbrook (GMOA 1945.54)

Description/Remarks
Markings/Labels
Provenance
Exhibition History
Bibliography
Hills Examination/Opinion
Sitter Biography
Related Work
Keywords
Works after this Work

1907 Estate Sale

No. 112: "A study for a picture of the blind poet, who is seated in a red-covered arm-chair, his head thrown back, his eyes half closed, his left hand raised as if emphasizing his words with a gesture."
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; width, 16 inches."
[Annotation: “32.50 / Cogswell”]

Markings

Verso, center left and center right of frame, in black marker: 943613; label fragment [rectangular, white with red border], lower center, in ink: [0?] 9235; beneath cardboard backing: [illegible inscription in white chalk, last line reading] picture (H)

Provenance

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. 112 (as Milton)]

William Browne Cogswell, Syracuse, New York, husband of the artist's niece, Mary Naomi Johnson Cogswell (daughter of the artist's brother Reuben), February 27, 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 1945

Alfred H. Holbrook, by 1945 (by purchase)

Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 1945 (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. 122.

References

AAA 1907b

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. 112, as Milton.

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. 48, 65, no. 122, as Milton.

Sitter Biography

Sitter: Milton, John

Biography:

John Milton (1608–1674). English poet. Author of Paradise Lost.

Related work

Keywords

Portrait pose:
- Half length »
- Portrait »
- Seated »
Subject matter:
- John Milton »
- Works related to poems »

Record last updated July 26, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.

Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Milton, c.1875–76 (Hills no. 27.0.21)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=466 (accessed on May 1, 2025).