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Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. © 2021
⊠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. 31.1.118
Frederick Layton
Alternate titles: Portrait of a Gentleman; Portrait of Frederick Layton; Portrait of Samuel Cupples; Samuel Couples [sic] of St. Louis
1893
Oil on canvas
18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.6 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1893
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Provenance
[Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, April 19–20, 1972, Sale 3348, Traditional & Western American Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Sculpture & Illustrations of the 18th, 19th & Early 20th Centuries, lot 159 (as Portrait of a Gentleman)]
Private collection
Exhibitions
Century Association, New York, February 4, 1893, [possibly, as
Frederick Layton]
.
References
Traditional & Western American Paintings, Drawings, Watercolors, Sculpture & Illustrations of the 18th, 19th & Early 20th Centuries. New York:
Parke-Bernet Galleries,
April 19–20, 1972.
Sale catalogue, as
Portrait of a Gentleman.
Douglass, Julie M. "Lifetime Exhibition History." In
Eastman Johnson: Painting America,
by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills.
Brooklyn, NY:
Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications,
1999.
Exhibition catalogue, p. 265 [possibly, as
Frederick Layton]
.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2003-10-10
Examination notes: At Vose Galleries: Red cravat, gold ring. Graphite lines at nostrils, upper eyelid, eyebrows, contour of cheek, along edge of ear. Nice highlights on pupils and forehead. Dry scumbling. More detail in Hills letter to Warren Adelson 2003-10-16.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Layton, Frederick
Biography: Frederick Layton (1827–1919).
Record last updated July 29, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Frederick Layton, 1893 (Hills no. 31.1.118)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=586 (accessed on April 26, 2024).