Catalogue Entry
In addition to his scenes of everyday life and portraits of people, Johnson created images of historical events and figures from works of literature, drama, and music. For example, “Carry Me, and I’ll Drum You Through” was inspired by an incident from the Battle of Antietam, 1862, and Membership Vote at the Union League Club, May 11, 1876, recorded a contentious meeting in which he participated much later. His Marguerite, Cosette, and Minnehaha are personifications of fictional heroines from novels and poetry. His Boy Lincoln represents both the future United States president and the archetypical American youth who, with determination and hard work, could succeed. Johnson rendered several of these imaginative images as both paintings and drawings. These literary and historical works evince both his personal interest in those subjects and his awareness of their popularity with the broad public. —AM
Hills opinion letter, 2008: "The painting is a study of a very serious-looking woman wearing a hood that blends in with her hair."
Henry T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, 1867, p. 469 (likely in reference to the fully signed version, Cosette, present whereabouts unknown): "Among other recent works of this effective and assiduous painter, are 'Cosette,' from Victor Hugo's 'Misérables'…"
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