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Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
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Photo: Courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum
Frame
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Inscription
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Detail, raking light
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Detail, black light
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Detail, black light
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Inscription, black light
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
⊠
35.0 Paintings by Johnson with a Later Additional Hand
Paintings by Johnson with a Later Additional Hand are not collaborations, but tend to be heavily restored paintings. They have been overpainted since their original creation to such an extent that another hand is visible in the work. The heaviest restorations are seen in three portraits currently or formerly owned by The Brook, New York, which are believed to have been left unfinished at the time of Johnson’s death and subsequently completed by painter, printmaker, and art restorer Charles X. Harris (1854–1936).
Hills no. 35.0.6
Baur no. 230
Isabella Guthrie McCosh
Princeton University title: Isabella Guthrie McCosh (1817–1909)
Alternate titles: Mrs. James McCosh; Mrs. James McCosh (Isabella Guthrie)
1882
Oil on canvas
26 9/16 x 21 5/8 in. (67.5 x 54.9 cm)
Signed and dated lower left over brown paint: E. Johnson/1882 [As in other Johnson paintings of the 1880s and 1890s, the "8"s have a flat top]
Hills, 2019: With UV light, looks like signature may have been applied later.
Hills, 2019: With UV light, looks like signature may have been applied later.
Provenance
By descent in the family of the sitter
James McCosh Magie, grandson of the sitter, by 1940
Princeton University, New Jersey, 1983 (by bequest)
References
Kennedy Galleries 1920
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Eastman Johnson. New York: Kennedy Galleries, 1920. Exhibition catalogue (1920 Kennedy Galleries), p. 11, addendum "Paintings by Eastman Johnson," as Mrs. James McCosh.Baur 1940
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), p. 70, no. 230, as Mrs. James McCosh (Isabella Guthrie).Hills Examination/Opinion
Examination date(s): 2019-05-29
Examination notes: Heavy restoration on left of face. Lines along edges, e.g., in hair. Signature LL: E. Johnson / 1888” over brown paint. With UV light looks like signature may have been applied later. A problematic painting.
Sitter Biography
Sitter: McCosh, Isabella Guthrie (Mrs. James McCosh)
Biography:
Isabella Guthrie McCosh (1817–1909). Wife of Reverend Doctor James McCosh, philosopher and president of Princeton University, 1868–1888.
McCosh, Isabella Guthrie (Mrs. James McCosh)
Keywords
- Portrait pose
: - Portrait sitter families
: - Inscription type
:
Record last updated August 28, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Isabella Guthrie McCosh, 1882 (Hills no. 35.0.6)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=881 (accessed on May 2, 2025).