Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
Patricia Hills, PhD, Founder and Director | Abigael MacGibeny, MA, Project Manager
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Photo: Peabody Essex Museum
Dorothy Dandridge Payne Todd Madison, 1846 (Hills no. 43.3.13). Verso
Verso
Photo: Peabody Essex Museum
43.3 U.S. Early Portrait Drawings, Women

Johnson's earliest recorded portrait drawings of women are dated 1845: his portrait of Dolley Madison that indicates the setting and one of his older sister Judith which shows head and neck only. Unlike the portraits of men, his portraits of women are softer in light-dark chiaroscuro and do not exhibit the muscular structure of the face as do those of men. Johnson consolidated his draughtsman’s talents during his sojourn in Boston, where he painted Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his circle. He took about three days to complete a charcoal portrait. The style of the time was to present portraits in oval frames. 

See Technical Information on Johnson's Practices for a discussion of charcoal, black chalk, crayon, and pastel. —PH

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Hills no. 43.3.13
Baur no. 334
Dorothy Dandridge Payne Todd Madison
Peabody Essex Museum title: Portrait of Dolley Madison
Alternate titles: Dolly [sic] Madison; Mrs. Dolley P. Madison; Mrs. James ("Dolly" [sic]) Madison
1846
Charcoal and chalk on paper
18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.6 cm)
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Record last updated April 1, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Dorothy Dandridge Payne Todd Madison, 1846 (Hills no. 43.3.13)." Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=924 (accessed on March 28, 2024).