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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: Eastman Johnson (1824–1906), Museum of the City of New York, 2011.12
The James Abercrombie Burden Family, 1875 (Hills no. 31.7.7). Detail
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
The James Abercrombie Burden Family, 1875 (Hills no. 31.7.7). Detail
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
The James Abercrombie Burden Family, 1875 (Hills no. 31.7.7). Detail
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
The James Abercrombie Burden Family, 1875 (Hills no. 31.7.7). Detail
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
[ 31.7 U.S. Portraits, Groups ]info
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31.7 U.S. Portraits, Groups

Some of Johnson’s most memorable paintings were his small scale compositions of family groups. Such works as these, traditionally called “conversation pieces,” trace their pedigree to England and seventeenth-century Holland. They were commissioned group portraits of wealthy patrons as they wanted to be seen, usually surrounded by sumptuous furnishing and a coterie of family and friends. —PH

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Hills no. 31.7.7
The James Abercrombie Burden Family
Alternate titles: possibly Jas. Burden and Family; The James A. Burden Family
1875
Oil on canvas
38 3/4 x 33 3/8 x 2 /14 in. (98.4 x 84.8 x 5.1 cm) (frame)
Signed and dated lower left: E. Johnson/1875
Museum of the City of New York. Bequest of Mrs. Elizabeth Leake Burden, 2011. (2011.12)
Description / Remarks

Museum of the City of New York object record, 2014: "The sitters are James Abercrombie Burden, 1833–1906, Mary Margaret Proudfit Irvin [Burden], 1874–1920, James Abercrombie Burden, Jr. or II, born 1871–1932 (the donor's father in-law) and Richard Irvin Burden, 1873–1900 (the younger child in the center of the painting)."

Provenance
James Abercrombie Burden
Mary Margaret Proudfit Irvin Burden, his wife
James Abercrombie Burden, Jr., their son
Florence Adele Vanderbilt Sloane Tobin Burden, his wife
James Abercrombie Burden, Jr. or III, their son
Elizabeth Leake Burden, his wife
Museum of the City of New York, 2011 (by bequest)
Exhibitions
1966 Wildenstein & Co.
Wildenstein & Co, New York, Three Hundred Years of New York City Families, January 12–29, 1966. (Wildenstein 1966), no. 30.
References
French 1906
French, Edgar. "An American Portrait Painter of Three Historical Epochs." World's Work 13, no. 2 (December 1906), p. 8323.
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 11, addendum "Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as Jas. Burden and Family].
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2017-02-15
Examination notes: Note bubbles.

Hills 2017: Very thinly painted. Perhaps E.J. was attempting an "impressionist" style. Figures tend to disappear. The underpainting shows through in many places. Mrs. Burden's arm seems to disappear.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Burden, James Abercrombie
Biography:

James Abercrombie Burden (1833–?). Ironmaster and inventor. Married to Mary Margaret Proudfit Irvin Burden; father of James Abercrombie, Jr., Richard Irvin, Williams Proudfit, and Arthur Scott.

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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. "The James Abercrombie Burden Family, 1875 (Hills no. 31.7.7)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=701 (accessed on May 5, 2024).