Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné

Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager

Catalogue Entry

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Detail

Photo: Patricia Hills

[ 37.1 U.S. Early and Euro Figure & Landscape Sketches ]

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37.1 U.S. Early and Euro Figure & Landscape Sketches

Johnson finished his formal schooling at fifteen and worked in a dry goods store where he began making drawings. Responding to his talent, his father sent him to work in a lithography shop in Boston, probably Bufford’s. Several figure and landscape sketches survive from the early 1840s which indicate the ways he was exploring the human figure and the landscape about him using graphite pencil. More importantly, he began to excel as a portrait draughtsman in these early years; see Themes 43.1–.9, U.S. Early Portrait Drawings.

Johnson's reason for his sojourn in Düsseldorf and The Hague, 1849–1855, was to learn to paint with oil (see Themes 1.0–5.0). To achieve that goal, he studied anatomy while still making graphite sketches of interiors, landscapes, and figures from life. Among his best composed sketches were those done on trips to the Dutch countryside, especially those done at Dongen, the Netherlands. —PH

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Hills no. 37.1.22r

Oriental man

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston title: Study of an Oriental Man

Alternate titles: An Oriental; Study of an Oriental

c.1849–52

Locale: The Netherlands

Graphite pencil on paper

21 1/4 x 15 in. (54 x 38.1 cm)

Inscribed lower center in graphite: Oriental Man.; verso: man seated at table and perspective studies

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, bequest of Maxim Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Watercolors and Drawings, 1800–1875 (1971.380)

Verso: Man Seated at Table and Perspective Studies [verso of Study of an Oriental Man], c.1851–55 (Hills no. 37.1.23v)

This catalogue raisonné strives to reproduce the available historical information, as it was written in the period, while acknowledging that readers today may find many of these terms objectionable or racist. Please see the Racist Language/Negative Stereotypes Statement »

Description / Remarks

Hills, 2022: The term “Oriental” is outdated. Whether or not it is racist depends on the circumstances and context. See Jayne Tsuchiyama, "The Term ‘Oriental’ Is Outdated, but Is It Racist?," Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2016.

Provenance

Likely Eastman Johnson estate/Mrs. Eastman Johnson, New York, 1906 (by bequest)

Likely Albert Rosenthal, New Hope, Pennsylvania, until 1939

Likely Estate of Albert Rosenthal, with Albert Duveen, New York

Albert Duveen, New York, and M. Knoedler & Co., New York, February 8, 1946

Maxim Karolik, until 1963

Estate of Maxim Karolik, 1963–November 10, 1971

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, November 10, 1971 (by bequest)

Exhibitions

1946 M. Knoedler & Co.

M. Knoedler & Co, New York, Paintings and Drawings by Eastman Johnson, January 7–26, 1946. (Exhibition catalogue: M. Knoedler & Co. 1946), no. 30, as An Oriental, [not hung, according to Frick Art Reference Library copy of annotated exh. cat.] Traveled to: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, March 1946 (California Palace 1946).

1972 Whitney Museum

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 9, b/w illus., p. 15, as Study of an Oriental. 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.

1973 High Museum

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, The Düsseldorf Academy and the Americans: An Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolors, September 23–October 28, 1973. Traveled to: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, January 7–February 11, 1973; National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 27–July 28, 1973.

1999 Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, Eastman Johnson: Painting America, October 29, 1999–February 6, 2000. (Exhibition catalogue: Carbone and Hills 1999), no. 13, illus., p. 31, as Study of an Oriental. Traveled to: San Diego Museum of Fine Arts, San Diego, February 25–May 21, 2000; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, June 8–September 10, 2000.

References

M. Knoedler & Co. 1946

Paintings and Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: M. Knoedler & Co., 1946. Exhibition catalogue (1946 M. Knoedler & Co.), n.p., no. 30, as An Oriental.

Hills 1972a

Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 15, no. 9, illus., as Study of an Oriental.

Carbone and Hills 1999

Carbone, Teresa A., and Patricia Hills. Eastman Johnson: Painting America. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum of Art, in association with Rizzoli International Publications, 1999. Exhibition catalogue (1999 Brooklyn Museum), p. 31, no. 13, as Study of an Oriental.

Hills Examination / Opinion

Examination date(s): 2018-03-07

Record last updated May 6, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.

Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Oriental man, c.1849–52 (Hills no. 37.1.22r)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=823 (accessed on May 1, 2024).