loading loading
Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, Project Manager and Co-Author

Catalogue Entry

enlarge
Photo: Courtesy of the Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Overall
Overall
Photo: Patricia Hills
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Detail
Detail
Photo: Patricia Hills
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Inscription
Inscription
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso
Verso
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso label
Verso label
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso label
Verso label
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso marking
Verso marking
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso marking
Verso marking
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso marking
Verso marking
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso label
Verso label
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14). Verso label
Verso label
Photo: Courtesy of The Green-Wood Historic Fund
[ 31.3 U.S. Portraits, Women ]info
⊠
31.3 U.S. Portraits, Women

Johnson’s paintings of women are often his best portraits, exhibiting a range of techniques and emphasizing their intelligent faces even when enwrapped in sumptuous fabrics, such as we see in Edwina Booth. —PH

View all works in this theme »

Hills no. 31.3.14
Baur no. 161
Judith Farnum Chandler
Green-Wood Historic Fund title: Portrait of Judith Farnum Chandler
Alternate titles: Our Grandmother (Mrs. Jeremiah Chandler); Portrait of Judith Farnum Chandler (1764–1851), the Artist's Grandmother
likely c.1855–60
Oil on canvas
21 1/4 x 17 in. (54 x 43.2 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: Eastman Johnson 1848 [sic]; inscribed lower center: Our Grandmother
The Green-Wood Historic Fund, Brooklyn, New York (A2007.11)
Description/Remarks

Hills, 2021: Unusual in that it is painted in oils, which Johnson didn’t do until he went to Germany in 1849. There is the possibility that he signed it 1848 (but actually painted it in the late 1850s) to indicate that is how she looked in 1848. He likely copied his c. 1847–1849 drawing of her in a similar composition. See the linked image of the drawing.

Baur 1940, p. 52: "Painted the year before he sailed to study in Europe, this is the earliest located oil by Johnson. The subject was his Maternal grandmother, Judith Farnum (1764–1851), who married Jeremiah Chandler in 1792. Their daughter was Mary Kimball Chandler, Johnson's mother."

Markings
Markings on verso:

Property of/M. E. Edmonds/320 East 72nd St. [crossed out]/New York, N.Y.

Jan. 12, 1956/Estimate for restoration/by Alfred Jakstras/391 School Street Belmont

Philippa Steel
Labels
Verso labels:

Judith Farnum Chandler/b. 1764. m. 1792. d. 1851/Property of/W. R. May.

Judith Farnum/born June 13. 1764/died Feb. 21. 1851/married Jeremiah Chandler 1792/(1763-1828)/mother of/John Carter Chandler/1794-/May [Mary?] Kimball Chandler/1796-1855/married Philip C. Johnson/Jan 29 1816/Judith Farnum was/daughter of/Ephraim Farnum born Sept. 1733/+ Judith Hall. born " " 1735/who were married in 1758

JEAN BOHNE INC../PICTURES AND FRAMES/47 WEST 46TH ST., NEW YORK/[handwritten] EDMONDS

CHRISTIE'S/5112/5112/1572 7510/[handwritten] AT237/1572 7510
Provenance
W. R. May [likely William Ropes May, the artist's nephew, son of his sister Harriet]
Sarah May (Mrs. Walter D.) Edmonds, New York, his sister, by 1940
M. E. Edmonds (likely Mary Edmonds, her daughter)
Philippa Steel
[Christie's, April 18, 2007, Sale 5112, British, Continental & Russian Pictures, lot 1011 (as Portrait of Judith Farnum Chandler (1764-1851), the Artist's Grandmother)]
The Green-Wood Historic Fund, Brooklyn, New York, 2007 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
1939 Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 161, b/w illus., Pl. XXXIV, as Our Grandmother (Mrs. Jeremiah Chandler).
References
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), pp. 52, 67, no. 161, as Our Grandmother (Mrs. Jeremiah Chandler).
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 2019-09-19,2019-09-19
Examination notes: An excellent portrait. Unusual in that it is painted in oils, which he didn’t do until he went to Germany in 1849. There is the possibility that he signed it 1848 (but actually painted in the late 1850s) to indicate that is how she looked in 1848. Perhaps he copied an 1848 drawing, as there is a distinct outline in graphite along the bonnet, the right edge of her nose, etc. Deft highlights on gold glasses frame. Thin impasto over the flesh tones; seems to be using underpainting for the shadows. These last characteristics suggest a later date, i.e. late 1850s, after he had returned to the US, for the painting.,Canvas has a distinct weave. Heavy outlining along lace of bonnet. Thin impasto on flesh tones—underpainting? For shadows. Graphite along right edge of nose. Highlights on gold glasses frame.

Hills believes that Johnson made this painting not in 1848, but after he returned from Europe in 1855. Probably done from the early drawing.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Chandler, Judith Farnum (Mrs. Jeremiah Chandler)
Biography:

Judith Farnum Chandler (1764–1851). Johnson’s maternal grandmother; mother of Mary Kimball Chandler.

Related work
loading
Chandler, Judith Farnum (Mrs. Jeremiah Chandler)
Keywords
Record last updated May 10, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Judith Farnum Chandler, likely c.1855–60 (Hills no. 31.3.14)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=720 (accessed on May 10, 2025).