loading loading
Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

Catalogue Entry

[ 31.1 U.S. Portraits, Men ]info
⊠
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

View all works in this theme »

Hills no. 31.1.114
John Jay Knox
Alternate titles: Honorable Morgan J. O'Brian [sic] [incorrect]; John J. Knox; Judge Morgan J. O'Brien [incorrect]; Morgan J. O'Brien [incorrect]; Portrait of John Knox
c.1889–92
Oil on canvas
40 x 33 in. (101.6 x 83.8 cm)
Neither signed nor dated
Present whereabouts unknown
Provenance
Mr. Satinover, by 1920
[Silo's, New York, March 18, 1927, A Large Collection of Modern and Antique Oil Paintings and Water Colors Belonging to Mr. Gino Albieri…Mr. Geo. Comstock, also the Late William Riker, Jr., no. 200 (as Portrait of John Knox)]
Ira Spanierman, New York, possibly by 1970
[Christie's, May 23, 1979, lot 89 (as Morgan J. O'Brien—incorrect)]
[Sotheby's, June 23, 1987, lot 32 (as Judge Morgan J. O'Brien—incorrect)]
Christie's, March 11, 1988, lot 75 (as Honorable Morgan J. O'Brian [sic]—incorrect); did not sell
Present whereabouts unknown
Exhibitions
1899 PAFA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Spring 1899, no. 315, as Portrait of John Knox.
1920 Satinover Galleries
Satinover Galleries, New York, 1920.
References
American Art News 1920
American Art News 19, no. 5 (November 13, 1920), p. 1, 4, illus., as John J. Knox.
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," as John Jay Knox.
Silo's 1927b
Catalogue of Modern and Antique Oil Paintings and Water Colors including the Works of Mr. Gino Albieri. New York: Silo's, March 18–19, 1927. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 200, as Portrait of John Knox, 40 x 33.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1970-11-04 (at Spanierman); probably same as seen on 1987-05-20 (at Sotheby's)
Examination notes: 1987-05-20: At Sotheby’s: Called Hon. Judge O'Brien, o/c, 44 x 33. Light from above - highlight on forehead. Criss-cross strokes; very brushy. Red ear. Cannot see eyes.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Knox, John Jay, Jr.
Biography:

John Jay Knox (March 19, 1828–February 9, 1892). Also referred to as John Jay Knox, Jr. Financier and government official. President of the National Bank of the Republic in New York City [American Art News caption].

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

Knox, John Jay, Jr.
Keywords
Record last updated June 2, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "John Jay Knox, c.1889–92 (Hills no. 31.1.114)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=581 (accessed on April 25, 2024).