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Photo: Courtesy of the Union College Permanent Collection
⊠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. 31.1.165
Baur no. 240
Eliphalet Nott Potter
Union College title: Portrait of Rev. Eliphalet Nott Potter
Alternate titles: Dr. Eliphalet N. Potter, President of Union College; Dr. Patten of Union College [incorrect]; The Reverend Eliphalet Nott Porter
c.1878
Oil on canvas
42 1/2 x 22 in. (108 x 55.9 cm)
Initialed lower right: E. J.
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Markings
Plate on frame: REVEREND ELIPHALET NOTT POTTER, D.D., LL.D./CLASS OF 1861/PRESIDENT 1871–1884
Exhibitions
National Academy of Design, New York, [unknown title], April 2–June 1, 1878. (Exhibition catalogue: NAD 1878a), no. 467, as
Dr. Eliphalet N. Potter, President of Union College, owner E. N. Potter
.
References
[unknown title]. New York:
National Academy of Design,
1878.
Exhibition catalogue (1878a NAD), no. 467, as
Dr. Eliphalet N. Potter, President of Union College, owner E. N. Potter.
Union College Trustee Minutes (June 2, 1907), p. 256
.
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. 71, no. 240, as
The Reverend Eliphalet Nott Porter, owner Union College, Schenectady.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Porter, Eliphalet Nott
Biography: Eliphalet Nott Potter (1837–1901). Seventh president of Union College, Schenectady, New York. Brother of Henry Codman Potter, also portrayed by Johnson.
Keywords
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Record last updated August 9, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Eliphalet Nott Potter, c.1878 (Hills no. 31.1.165)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=615 (accessed on May 1, 2025).
