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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: Charles Munch
Susan Dolby Alexander, 1856 (Hills no. 31.3.1). Before restoration
Before restoration
Photo: Charles Munch
Susan Dolby Alexander, 1856 (Hills no. 31.3.1). Clean state
Clean state
Photo: Charles Munch
[ 31.3 U.S. Portraits, Women ]info
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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

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Hills no. 31.3.1
Susan Dolby Alexander
Alternate title: Mrs. Charllote [sic] Newton [incorrect]
1856
Locale: Superior, Wisconsin
Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard
26 x 21 7/8 in. (66 x 55.6 cm)
Signed and dated lower right in red, possibly not authentic: E. Johnson/1856
Present whereabouts unknown
Description / Remarks

MacGibeny, 2021: According to the Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive files, Eastman Johnson, "Mrs. Charllote [sic] Newton [incorrect]," supply files, accessed July 20, 2021, the 1978 owner of this painting reported the inscription as "E Johnson Dec 1856". The "Dec" is not seen in the photograph, which was taken after restoration in 1984. According to the conservator, Charles Munch, the inscription sits on top of paint previously used for repair. Thus, it is possible that the inscription is not authentic.

 

Provenance
Keith F. Kurzka, Chicago, by April 1978 until at least 1984
Present whereabouts unknown
Sitter Biography
Sitter: Newton, Charlotte
Biography:

Charlotte Newton. Note that sitter looks the same as Susan Dolby Alexander (drawing, 1857).

Alexander, Susan Dolby (Mrs. Samuel Alexander)
Keywords
Record last updated March 28, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Susan Dolby Alexander, 1856 (Hills no. 31.3.1)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=751 (accessed on May 1, 2024).