Catalogue Entry
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: James Phinney Baxter, father of the children portrayed, documented the sittings that took place for this painting in Nantucket, Massachusetts over a six-day period in September 1882. Photographs of the children also were taken for Johnson's reference.
The following transcript from Baxter's journal at the Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham, Maine, provided by the Bowdoin Museum of Art, reveals some details of the process:
"September 8: 'After supper at the Ocean House, I called on Mr. Johnson and arranged to take the children to him in the morning.' September 9 they spent forenoon at Johnson's studio: 'It was a tiresome forenoon, the children, Madeline, especially, being very restless. She is very cunning and sweet, but also hard to manage.' September 11: 'Took the children to Mr. Johnson's studio and had a tiresome forenoon.' September 12: 'At 10 o'clock we took a carriage for Johnson's, we remained with him until half past four in the afternoon having dinner with him. The children stood for their pictures better than yesterday, and the weather clearing up about noon, though it blew hard, they were allowed to run out of the studio at intervals to play, so that upon the whole, they had a good time.' September 13: 'At 10, went to Johnson's studio, and were rejoiced to hear him say that we could go home by the noon boat. As he wanted photographs of the children we went with him to a saloon, and had them taken.'"
Johnson painted this portrait alone. His friend and fellow artist Jervis McEntee wrote in his own journal about painting the background in March and April 1882 for an earlier collaborative version, now at the Maine State Museum. Baxter declined to purchase the version to which McEntee contributed, but purchased this subsequent solo version by Johnson, in which the children assume a larger scale within the composition.
Madeline Baxter (1879–1938). Daughter of James Phinney Baxter and Mehitable Cummings Proctor Baxter; sister of Percival Proctor Baxter, with whom she was portrayed by Johnson.
Percival Proctor Baxter (1876–1969). Governor of Maine, 1921–1925. Known for the thousands of acres he purchased and gave to Maine (Baxter State Park), which includes Mt. Katahdin. Son of James Phinney Baxter and Mehitable Cummings Proctor Baxter; brother of Madeline Baxter, with whom he was portrayed by Johnson.
- Portrait pose:
- Full length »
- Group »
- Portrait »
- Standing »
- Portrait sitter families: