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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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08.0 Negro Life at the South, 1859
Although Johnson had exhibited works sent from Europe at the National Academy of Design in the early 1850s, it was his Negro Life at the South that established his reputation as the leading genre painter and assured his election as an Associate Academician, an honor that was invaluable in securing an artist’s fortune. To midcentury white America, the general dilapidation of the slave quarters was picturesque, and the small anecdotal touches were delightful. Today we may be ambivalent in our approach to Negro Life, or at least troubled by the simplistic view of Blacks in stereotypical activities: playing banjoes, shuffling to music, courting idly, and fondling children. However, more issues come to light upon close examination of the painting: What is the purpose/effect of the white woman stepping through the door at the right; what is the effect of the Black woman leaning out the window holding her baby; what about the individualistic renderings of the Black adults? Such questions need to be explored [See Hills 1974; Davis 1991; Hills 1999].
This painting and its variations have been placed in a separate category from Black Groups because of its historic significance as Johnson’s chef-d’oeuvre. —PH
Hills no. 8.0.4
Southern Courtship
Alternate titles: possibly Tender Passion; possibly The Country Courtship; possibly The Tender Passion; My Old Kentucky Home; Southern Courtship, Study for My Old Kentucky Home
1859
Locale: Washington, D.C.
Oil on canvas
20 x 15 3/4 in. (50.8 x 40 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: E. Johnson/1859
Description / Remarks
Hills, 2021: This image is a vignette from the larger Negro Life at the South.
Provenance
Possibly William Thompson Walters, Baltimore, by 1879 until at least 1884 (from the artist)
Wildenstein and Company, New York, 1948
Sidney Levison, until 1967
[Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1967]
Ambassador and Mrs. J. William Middendorf, II, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1967 until at least 1972 (by purchase)
Private collection, Rhode Island, until 2007
Vose Galleries, Boston, by June 27, 2007 and until August 24, 2007
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 24, 2007 (by purchase)
Exhibitions
1948 Wildenstein & Co.
Wildenstein & Co, New York, Eastman Johnson, Summer 1948. (Wildenstein 1948), no. 2.1949 Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art
Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art, Los Angeles, Winslow Homer 1836–1910, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906, February 4, 1949–May 7, 1950. (Exhibition catalogue: LACMA 1949), no. 1, as Southern Courtship, Study for My Old Kentucky Home. Traveled to: Denver Art Museum, Denver, 1949; Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Oklahoma Arts Center, Oklahoma City, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Takoma Art League, Takoma, Washington, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949); Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, 1949 (Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949).1955 Hyde Museum
Hyde Museum, Glen Falls, New York, 1955.1967 Baltimore Museum
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, American Paintings and Historical Prints from the Middendorf Collection, July 9–September 24, 1967, no. 28. Traveled to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 4–November 26, 1967.1972 Whitney Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 24, b/w illus., p. 31, as Southern Courtship. Traveled to: The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, June 7–July 22, 1972; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, August 15–September 30, 1972; Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, October 20–December 3, 1972.1980 Walters Art Gallery
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, African Image: Representations of the Black throughout History, February 17–March 30, 1980. (no. 45).2007 Vose Galleries
Vose Galleries, Boston, Defining a Nation: Paintings of Nineteenth-Century America, October 22–December 15, 2007.2012 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 7, 2012–January 2, 2013.2013 Terra Foundation for American Art
Terra Foundation for American Art with Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and National Museum of Korea, Chicago, Art Across America, February 4–September 1, 2013. Traveled to: National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, February 4–May 12, 2013; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea, June 7–September 1, 2103.References
Waters and Hutton 1879
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement, and Laurence Hutton. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works. Vol. II. Boston: Houghton, Osgood, & Co., 1879, p. 12 [possibly, as Tender Passion].Townsend 1884
Townsend, James B. "The Walters' Galleries." The Decorator and Furnisher (New York) 4 (April 1, 1884), p. 10 [possibly, as The Tender Passion]: "…two strong Eastman Johnson's [sic] 'The Tender Passion' and 'A Spanish Woman,' testify for American genre painters…"Walters 1884
Walters, W. T. Collection of W. T. Walters, 65 Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore. Baltimore: I. Friedenwald, 1884, p. 80, no. 133 [possibly, as The Tender Passion, 15 x 18. From the Artist. Dated 1859.]Waters and Hutton 1884
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement, and Laurence Hutton. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works. Vol. II. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1884, p. 12 [possibly, as The Tender Passion].Champlin and Perkins 1886
Champlin, John Denison, Jr., and Charles C. Perkins. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. Vol. 2. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1886, p. 351 [possibly, as Tender Passion, 1859, W. T. Walters, Baltimore].New York Times 1888
"Mr. Walters's Galleries: The Pictures Which Now Form His Beautiful Collection." New York Times, January 28, 1888, p. 5 [possibly, as The Tender Passion]: "The pictures that have disappeared from the galleries are 'A Misty Morning,' by Van Marke [sic], 'A Landscape," by Theodore Rousseau, 'The Tender Passion' by Eastman Johnson, and the 'Sailor's Wedding,' by R. C. Woodville."Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 12, addendum “Paintings by Eastman Johnson" [possibly, as The Country Courtship].Burrows 1948
Burrows, Carlyle. New York Herald Tribune, June 6, 1948, cited.Wildenstein 1948
Eastman Johnson. New York: Wildenstein, 1948. Exhibition catalogue (1948 Wildenstein & Co.); (1948 Wildenstein & Co.), no. 2, as Southern Courtship.Fine Arts Society of San Diego 1949
Winslow Homer 1836–1910; Eastman Johnson 1824–1906. San Diego, CA: Fine Arts Society of San Diego, 1949. Exhibition catalogue (1949 Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art), no. 1, as Southern Courtship, Study for My Old Kentucky Home.Metropolitan Museum of Art 1967
American Paintings & Historical Prints from the Middendorf Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967, no. 28, p. 42–43 illus.; no. 28, p. 43.Hills 1972a
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 31, no. 24, illus., as Southern Courtship.Hills 1999b
Hills, Patricia. "Painting Race: Eastman Johnson's Pictures of Slaves, Ex-Slaves, and Freedmen." In Eastman Johnson: Painting America, by Teresa A. Carbone and Patricia Hills. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, p. 128.Vose Galleries 2007
"Defining a Nation: Paintings of Nineteenth Century America." Boston: Vose Galleries, 2007, p. 9.Marzio 2010
Marzio, Peter C. American Art and Philanthropy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Houston, TX: Museum of Fine Arts, 2010, p. 36 or 37.Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-07-14; 2007-06-27
Examination notes: 1971-07-14: Good condition. Thin lines outlining the figures—very visible. Dusty rose skirt; white, gold and pink striped blouse. Man: white shirt and tan trousers. Local color—no shadows. Basket of greens behind man. Woman holds greens and greens on ground. Deep sienna behind—also fireplace. Perspective good.
2007-06-27: Pencil [graphite] lines around edges of figures plus some of the folds of clothing. Highlights on tin cup, black bottle, crock and other cup.
2007-06-27: Pencil [graphite] lines around edges of figures plus some of the folds of clothing. Highlights on tin cup, black bottle, crock and other cup.
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Keywords
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Record last updated October 12, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Southern Courtship, 1859 (Hills no. 8.0.4)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=78 (accessed on April 26, 2024).