Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Owen Murphy, 2002, courtesy of Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
Inscription
Photo: Owen Murphy, 2002, courtesy of Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
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09.3 Black Children and Adolescents
During the 1860s Johnson painted Black men, women, and children that bestow on them dignity, intelligence, and grace. Many in his family, including his sister Harriet May and her husband Reverend Joseph May were ardent abolitionists. To Johnson, Blacks were not subjects to be ridiculed or satirized. —PH
Hills no. 9.3.5
Negro Boy (Piccolo Player)
Alternate titles: Negro Boy; Piccolo Player (Study for 1860 Negro Boy)
c.1860–61
Oil on canvas
13 3/8 x 11 3/8 in. (34 x 28.9 cm)
Signed lower right: E. Johnson.
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Description / Remarks
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art catalogue sheet, March 30, 2020: "A young African-American boy sitting barefoot in a doorway playing a homemade flute."
Provenance
Exhibitions
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi, On permanent display in the American Gallery since acquisition, as of April 2020.
References
The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2003, p. 31.
Hills Examination / Opinion
Examination date(s): 2001-04-24
Examination notes: Same pebbly suface as Duluth Indian portraits. No marks on back of canvas or frame. Pencil lines throughout. Thinly painted—not heavy impasto of NAD painting. Smoothly painted on hand; head is clearly silhouetted against uniform darkness in door opening. Variation of boards on the floor. Anatomy of his left leg and foot is perfect. Graphite outlining toes and edge of leg. Lines along leg. Graphite on fingers. Deft highlights on eye (pupil) and flesh beneath (flap) eye. Ear and hair are excellent. (Thinly painted—is the only issue—but OK.) Canvas old—seems authentic.
Related work
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Keywords
- Subject matter:
Record last updated July 28, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Negro Boy (Piccolo Player), c.1860–61 (Hills no. 9.3.5)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=80 (accessed on April 25, 2024).