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
MacGibeny, 2021: Johnson almost certainly referred to the setting for this group portrait in his letter dated October 30, 1870, written from Nantucket, Massachusetts, to art collector and dealer Samuel P. Avery: "I shall bring home a pretty large picture I have nearly completed here, a stage coach with some 15 figures, children playing in it—4 feet by 5 [Old Stage Coach]—The rest of the time on an interior, 4 x 6, for a family of portraits."
As reported by Jeff Kisseloff in You Must Remember This, 1989, Hatch family descendant Claudia Stearns claimed that Johnson actually made the painting earlier than the inscribed date of 1871: "My great-grandparents had eleven children. My great-grandfather paid Eastman Johnson to do a family portrait for $1,000 dollars a head. When the baby, Emily, was born…my great-grandfather sent Eastman Johnson a telegram that he had another $1,000 coming…They painted the whole picture by then and left a place for her in Aunt Flora's lap… Nobody is really sure when it was painted. The baby, Emily, was born in 1870, but didn't want anybody to know it, and she was a painter. So the night before the painting was to go to the Metropolitan, she went with her paint box and changed the date."
Metropolitan Museum of Art website, accessed March 13, 2021: "Alfrederick Smith Hatch (1829–1904) was a prominent Wall Street broker in the firm of Fisk and Hatch and president of the New York Stock Exchange from 1883 to 1884. Like many of his business associates, he was an enthusiastic collector of art. One of the finest paintings in his collection was this commissioned group portrait showing three generations of his family. It depicts them in the library of their New York residence at 49 Park Avenue, on the northeast corner of 39th Street. Hatch is seated to the right at his desk, and his wife, the former Theodosia Ruggles (1829–1908), leans on the mantel. Other members of the family, including Theodosia's mother, Hatch's father, and their children are also present."
Alfrederick Smith Hatch (1829–1904). Prominent wall street broker, president of the New York Stock Exchange, 1883–1884, and enthusiastic art collector. Resided at 49 Park Avenue with his wife Theodosia Ruggles (1829–1908). Other family members including Theodosia’s mother, Alfrederick’s father, and their children are present in their group portrait by Johnson [Metropolitan Museum of Art website, accessed February 27, 2022].
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