Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Unknown
[ 09.1 Black Men ]
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09.1 Black Men
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. 9.1.3r
Baur no. 38 / 1907 Sale no. 38
Head of a Black Man
1907 Sale title: Uncle Remus
Alternate title: Head of a Negro Man
c.1868
Oil on paper board
19 1/4 x 15 in. (48.9 x 38.1 cm)
Initialed lower left: E.J.
Private collection
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 »
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Description/Remarks
Hills, 2021: Although Uncle Remus is the earliest historical title of this work, it is not used here because it is not a title that Johnson would have used or approved. Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, a collection of African American folktales by Joel Chandler Harris, was first published in 1880, years after Johnson likely completed this painting. The main title used here is the one that was used when the painting was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999. Perhaps Johnson had in mind the famous Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Contemporary photographs invariably show Douglass with a furrowed brow and determined look. See Hills, "Painting Race: Eastman Johnson's Pictures of Slaves, Ex-Slaves, and Freedmen," p. 157.
1907 Estate Sale
No. 38: "The life-size head of an old colored man in three-quarters view, the head slightly inclined to the right and the eyes somewhat raised. He has a great shock of woolly white hair, and a sparsely growing grizzly beard. A strong light from the upper left falls upon the head, casting deep shadows from the eyebrows, the nose and the chin on the right side of the face. He wears a coarse and ragged cotton shirt, open at the neck."
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; width, 15 inches"
[Annotation: “35.00”]
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; width, 15 inches"
[Annotation: “35.00”]
Provenance
Private collection, by January 2020
Exhibitions
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as Uncle Remus.
Frazier Gallery, New York, Eastman Johnson 1824–1906: Forerunner of Homer and Eakins, September–October 1937. (Hirschl 1937); (Frazier Gallery 1937a), no. 26, as Uncle Remus, [as 15 1/2 x 10 1/2].
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906, January 18, 1939–February 26, 1940. (Exhibition catalogue: Baur 1940), no. 38, as Uncle Remus.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition, March 28–May 14, 1972. (Exhibition catalogue: Hills 1972a), no. 51, b/w illus., p. 47, as Head of a Negro Man, did not travel. 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.
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York, Eastman Johnson: Painting America, October 29, 1999–February 6, 2000. (Exhibition catalogue: Carbone and Hills 1999), no. 80, as Head of a Black Man. 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
Catalogue of Finished Pictures, Studies, and Drawings by the Late Eastman Johnson, N.A. New York: American Art Association, February 1907. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 38, as Uncle Remus.
Baur, John I. H. An American Genre Painter: Eastman Johnson, 1824–1906. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1940. Exhibition catalogue (1939 Brooklyn Museum), pp. 45, 61, no. 38, as Uncle Remus.
Hills, Patricia. Eastman Johnson: Retrospective Exhibition. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972. Exhibition catalogue (1972 Whitney Museum), p. 47, no. 51, as Head of a Negro Man.
Hills, Patricia. The Genre Paintings of Eastman Johnson: The Sources and Development of His Style and Themes. New York: Garland Publishing, 1977, p. 211, fig. 44, as Head of a Negro Man.
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. 155, no. 80, as Head of a Black Man.
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. 157, as Head of a Black Man.
MacGibeny, Abigael, and Patricia Hills. "Dealing with Historical Titles: The Case of the Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné." Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 20, no. 3 (Autumn 2021).
Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 1971-06-15
Keywords
- Portrait pose:
- Subject matter:
Record last updated June 29, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Head of a Black Man, c.1868 (Hills no. 9.1.3r)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=84 (accessed on September 8, 2024).