Catalogue Entry
Johnson, like other artists, painted himself when not engaged in other projects. In these portraits we see the chronological progression of his physiognomy, especially his facial hair. Sometimes we see the inner man, and at other times we see the man in his environment. The self-portrait he presented to the National Academy of Design when he was inducted in 1859 is the grandest; but the most flamboyant is his self-portrait of 1899, in which he is dressed in the costume he wore at the Twelfth Night celebration at the Century Association. —PH
MacGibeny, 2021: This painting is essentially the reverse of Self-Portrait, present whereabouts unknown with several differences in the details.
American Art Association sale catalogue, 1919: "Self-portrait at three-quarters length. The painter is seated in a carved wood high-backed chair, facing the spectator and turned slightly toward the left. He wears a brown suit, and a flowing black dressing-gown with turned-back cuffs of turquoise-blue, and holds between his knees a bottle of wine which he regards with interest. Two tall slender glasses stand on a table at his elbow. His sober attire is warmed by the crimson upholstery of his chair seat, and above his head a partly set palette hangs against the wall."
1971: Glass on front. Face is yellowish. Ruddy cheeks.
Jonathan Eastman Johnson (1824–1906). American portrait and genre painter. Son of Philip Carrigan Johnson and Mary Kimball Chandler Johnson; brother of Reuben, Judith, Mary, Philip, Sarah, Harriet, and Eleanor. Married Elizabeth Williams Buckley (m. 1869); father of Ethel (1870–1931).
- Portrait pose:
- Portrait sitter families:
- Subject matter:
- Bottles »