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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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© 2008 Christie’s Images Limited
Mihály Munkacsy, Blind Milton dictating "Paradise Lost" to his daughters, 1877
New York Public Library Archives, The New York Public Library. "Blind Milton dictating "Paradise Lost" to his daughters" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 4, 2021. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/66760d80-c7f1-0135-7e34-49d3fe482577
New York Public Library Archives, The New York Public Library. "Blind Milton dictating "Paradise Lost" to his daughters" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 4, 2021. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/66760d80-c7f1-0135-7e34-49d3fe482577
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29.0 Late Copies after Other Artists (not portraits)
Throughout the modern period artists have learned their craft by copying other artists, and Johnson was no exception. When he returned to the United States in 1855, after going to Europe to learn to paint, he still chose to copy artworks by modern European artists. See Theme 37.4 Euro Drawing Copies after European Artists for his drawing copies after other artists. —PH
Hills no. 29.0.3
Baur no. 124
Study for "Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters," after Munkacsy
Alternate titles: possibly Milton Dictating to His Daughters; Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost'; Sketch for 'Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters'; Sketch for Milton Dictating; Study for "Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters"
c.1877–80
Oil on board
9 7/8 x 10 15/16 in. (25.1 x 26.2 cm)
Initialed lower right: E.J.; verso: …to be /given to Mr. S M…[unclear] compliments, it is the / original sketch of the painting “Milton dictating / Paradise Lost to His Daughters / by Eastman Johnson, NA”
Labels
Gallery label on verso
Provenance
Ehrich-Newhouse Galleries, by 1934
Private collection, California
Charles T. Davies, by 1940 [possibly same as above]
Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, November 5, 2005, lot 645 (as Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost'); did not sell
[Christie's, March 7, 2008, lot 35 (as Sketch for 'Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters')]
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1934 College Art Association
College Art Association, New York, American Painters Memorial Exhibition since 1900, 1934, no. 2.References
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 12, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as Milton Dictating to His Daughters].College Art Association 1934
American Painters Memorial Exhibition since 1900. New York: College Art Association, [1934], no. 2.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. 124, as Study for "Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters".Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2007-08-07; 2008-02-15
Examination notes: 2007-08-07: Christie's. Ehrich-Newhouse, Inc. "Milton Dictating to His Daughters" on label, verso. Oil. L.R. "EJ" 9 7/8 x 11 Oil on academy board. In pencil: "...to be given to Mr. S. Milton [?] compliments, it is the/original sketch of the painting "Milton dictating Paradise Lost to His Daughters' by Eastman Johnson, N.A".
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Milton, John
Biography:
John Milton (1608–1674). English poet. Author of Paradise Lost.
Related work
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Keywords
- Portrait pose:
- Portrait »
- Subject matter:
Record last updated August 1, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Study for "Milton Dictating 'Paradise Lost' to His Daughters," after Munkacsy, c.1877–80 (Hills no. 29.0.3)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=467 (accessed on April 26, 2024).