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

Catalogue Entry

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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. 31.1.169
Baur no. 242
Henry Codman Potter
Alternate titles: possibly Bishop Potter; possibly Portrait of Bishop Henry C. Potter; Bishop Henry C. Potter; The Bishop of New York, Henry Codman Potter
c.1886
Oil on canvas
50 1/2 x 40 3/8 in. (128.3 x 102.6 cm)
Signed lower left: Eastman [or "E"—not clear] Johnson
Description / Remarks

Hills opinion letter, 2009: "It is a three-quarter figure portrait of Bishop Potter dressed in his vestments. He looks to his left (our right) and holds out his left hand."

Provenance
Alonzo Potter, son of the sitter, by 1940
Cary Potter, his son
Church Pension Fund, New York, 1996 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1886b Century Association
Century Association, New York, June 5, 1886, [possibly, as Bishop H. A. Potter].
1887 NAD
National Academy of Design, New York, April 4–May 14, 1887. (Exhibition catalogue: NAD 1887), no. 164, [possibly, as Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter].
1899 PAFA
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Spring 1899, no. 365, [possibly, as Bishop Potter].
1903 Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York, New York, Portraits of Americans, February 12–14, 1903, no. 17, [possibly, as Portrait of Bishop Henry C. Potter, owner Eastman Johnson].
References
Harper's Weekly 1887
"Pictures at the Spring Academy." Harper's Weekly 31, no. 1581 (April 9, 1887), p. 254 [possibly]: "Eastman Johnson has a portrait of his wife, a grave and beautiful piece of work, a standing likeness of the Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, and a genre picture from Nantucket —the interior of a shoe-maker's shop patronized by a knot of old whalers".
NAD 1887
New York: National Academy of Design, 1887. Exhibition catalogue (1887 NAD), no. 164, [possibly, as Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter].
The Art Amateur 1887b
"Gallery and Studio." The Art Amateur 16 (May 1887), p. 125 [possibly]: "Eastman Johnson contributes two important portraits, painted in his usual grave and temperate manner, an upright, three-quarter-length figure of Bishop Potter in his robes, and one of an elderly lady, seated, whose black silk dress is particularly well rendered".
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 Bishop Potter].
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. 71, no. 242, as Bishop Henry C. Potter.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2009-06-02
Examination notes: Ruddy look to face—scumbling. Also hand. Red shadowing on hand - maybe filled in? Note red brown along nose and in front of left ear. Right hand seems out of proportion—holds something. Ruddy red cheek. Barely see hand on the left. Left sleeve—thin white wash for highlights. Highlight on left pupil. Ear—undefined.
Hills opinion letter: June 15, 2009 view »
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Potter, Henry Codman
Biography:

Henry Codman Potter (1834–1908). “...Protestant Episcopal clergyman…born in Schenectady, New York. After graduating from the Virginia Theological Seminary he held pastorates in Troy, New York (1859–1866), at Trinity Church, Boston (1866–1868), and at Grace Church, New York (1868–1883). As bishop of New York (1887–1908) he was a major figure in the campaign against corruption in the city, and he carried on the building of the cathedral of St. John the Divine, having laid the cornerstone in 1892” [New-York Historical Society gallery label]. Potter was also one of the founders of the Century Association. Brother of Eliphalet Nott Potter, also portrayed by Johnson.

Potter, Henry Codman
Keywords
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. "Henry Codman Potter, c.1886 (Hills no. 31.1.169)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=618 (accessed on March 29, 2024).