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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, Project Manager and Co-Author

Catalogue Entry

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Photo: Columbia University, Art Properties, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library
[ 31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men ]info
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31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men

When Johnson returned to the United States, he not only painted genre paintings but he also continued to paint portraits, which gave him a steady income. After 1880 Johnson turned to portraiture almost exclusively. During the 1880s and 1890s he painted businessmen, lawyers, university presidents, and three U.S. presidents from life. At times he also painted their wives and children.

He was also commissioned to paint posthumous portraits, often from photographs. These portraits by and large do not have the sparkle and active brushwork of those done from life. It seems that the demand for portraits of business and civic leaders (and members of exclusive men’s clubs) was so high that portrait painters would often make copies of each other’s paintings to satisfy the market for such images. In many instances, it has been difficult to render opinions for such paintings. —PH

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Hills no. 31.1.7
Baur no. 153
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard
Columbia University, Avery Library, Art Properties title: Portrait of Frederick A. P. Barnard (1809–1889)
Alternate titles: possibly President Barnard; possibly President Barnard of Columbia College; Frederick A. P. Barnard
1886
Oil on canvas
49 x 39 1/2 in. (124.5 x 100.3 cm)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson/1886
Columbia University, Art Properties, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Commissioned by the Trustees, 1886 (C00.0110)
Markings
Plate on frame: FREDERICK A. P. BARNARD, D.D., LITT., LL.D. / A.B. Yale College 1828 / President of the University of Mississippi 1856-1861 / President of Columbia College 1864-1889
Provenance
Columbia University, New York, 1886 (by commission)
Exhibitions
1886c Century Association
Century Association, New York, November 6, 1886, [possibly, as President Barnard].
1897 Century Association
Century Association, New York, January 14, 1897, [possibly, as Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard].
1908 Century Association
Century Association, New York, Exhibition of Portraits Owned by Columbia University, March 16–31, 1908.
1939 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, May 8–July 25, 1939, no. 69.
References
Columbia University 1912
An Official Guide to Columbia University. New York: Columbia University Press, 1912, p. 56.
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 11, addendum "Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as President Barnard of Columbia College].
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. 66, no. 153, as Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard.
Wolgast 2009
Wolgast, Stephen L. "King's Crowns: The History of Academic Dress at King's College and Columbia University." Transactions of the Burgon Society 9 (2009), p. 97, fig. 2, as Frederick A. P. Barnard.
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-06-04
Examination notes: Anatomy very bad. His right arm out of proportion. Also his left hand dangles. Knees too short and out of proportion. Red gown.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Barnard, Frederick Augustus Porter
Biography:

Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (1809–1889). American scientist and educator; president of Columbia University, 1864–1888, who grew enrollment and curriculum, developed today’s school of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and advocated for equal educational access for women; namesake of Barnard College. Married Margaret McMurray (m. 1849).

White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.

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Barnard, Frederick Augustus Porter
Keywords
Record last updated March 15, 2025. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, 1886 (Hills no. 31.1.7)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=504 (accessed on May 2, 2025).