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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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Photo: Ali Elai, Camerarts
Cornelius Vanderbilt (Johnson and Charles X. Harris), c.1877–1906 (Hills no. 35.0.5). Overall
Overall
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Cornelius Vanderbilt (Johnson and Charles X. Harris), c.1877–1906 (Hills no. 35.0.5). Plate on frame
Plate on frame
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
[ 35.0 Paintings by Johnson with a Later Additional Hand ]info
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35.0 Paintings by Johnson with a Later Additional Hand

Paintings by Johnson with a Later Additional Hand are not collaborations, but tend to be heavily restored paintings. They have been overpainted since their original creation to such an extent that another hand is visible in the work. The heaviest restorations are seen in three portraits currently or formerly owned by The Brook, New York, which are believed to have been left unfinished at the time of Johnson’s death and subsequently completed by painter, printmaker, and art restorer Charles X. Harris (1854–1936).

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Hills no. 35.0.5
Baur no. 269
Cornelius Vanderbilt (Johnson and Charles X. Harris)
Alternate title: Cornelius Vanderbilt
c.1877–1906
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Initialed lower left in red: E.J.
The Brook, New York
Description / Remarks

MacGibeny, 2021: According to The Brook Collection by Richard Saunders, 2005, this painting is by Johnson and C. X. Harris. Charles X. Harris (1854–1936) was a painter, printmaker, and art restorer. According to Saunders, portraits with that attribution apparently were left unfinished at the time of Johnson’s death and completed by Harris.

Labels
Plate on frame: C. VANDERBILT/Born in New York 1794–Died 1877./NOTED RAILROAD PIONEER/and PHILANTHROPIST/1824 EASTMAN JOHNSON 1906
Provenance
Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906–1909 (by bequest)
The Brook, New York, by 1909
Exhibitions
1939 Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Life in America: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings Held during the Period of the New York World's Fair, April 24–October 29, 1939, no. 206, p. 156, as Cornelius Vanderbilt, lent by The Brook, New York.
References
Metropolitan Museum of Art 1939
Life in America: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings Held during the Period of the New York World's Fair. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1939, p. 156, no. 206, illus., as Cornelius Vanderbilt.
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. 269, as Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Saunders 2005
Saunders, Richard H. The Brook Collection. New York: The Brook, 2005, pp. 54–56, illus., as Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2019-02-19
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Vanderbilt, Cornelius
Biography:

Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877). Railroad magnate. Active philanthropist who contributed generously to Columbia University, several medical institutions, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other entities. Son of William Henry and Maria Louisa (Kissam) Vanderbilt. Married Alice Claypoole (m. 1867); father of seven children.

Vanderbilt, Cornelius
Keywords
Record last updated March 22, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Cornelius Vanderbilt (Johnson and Charles X. Harris), c.1877–1906 (Hills no. 35.0.5)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=649 (accessed on May 3, 2024).