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

Catalogue Entry

[ 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. 31.1.207
Baur no. 268
John Howard Van Amringe
Columbia University, Avery Library, Art Properties title: Portrait of John Howard Van Amringe (1835–1915)
Alternate title: Dean van Amringe
1900
Oil on canvas
41 7/8 x 32 13/16 in. (106.4 x 81.8 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1900
Columbia University, Art Properties, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Presented by the Association of the Alumni of Columbia College, Commencement Day, 1900 (C00.0509)
Provenance
Columbia University, New York, 1900 (by gift)
Exhibitions
1900 Century Association
Century Association, New York, April 7, 1900, as Dean van Amringe.
1908 Century Association
Century Association, New York, Exhibition of Portraits Owned by Columbia University, March 16–31, 1908.
References
Columbia University 1912
An Official Guide to Columbia University. New York: Columbia University Press, 1912, p. 64, as John Howard Van Amringe.
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. 72, no. 268, as John Howard Van Amringe.
Douglass 1999
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. 266, as Dean van Amringe.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-06-04
Examination notes: Best portrait of the four I saw at Columbia. Coarse canvas. In black academic gowns holding hat. Black background. Pince-nez—handlebar moustache, bald head. 3/4 view—eyes right. Slight scowl. No real highlights.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Van Amringe, John Howard
Biography:

John Howard Van Amringe (1835–1915). Graduated from Columbia College, 1860, and later became dean of the college, 1896–1910.

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. "John Howard Van Amringe, 1900 (Hills no. 31.1.207)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=647 (accessed on April 28, 2024).