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拍品专文
Beginning in 1870 Eastman Johnson produced a string of anecdotal narrative subjects depicting daily life on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. In the years after the Civil War, Johnson drew upon the visual character of the island and its inhabitants to portray everyday scenes which rank among the artist's most memorable paintings.
In an effort to find new and relevant subject matter, the painter found inspiration in the quiet whaling community of Nantucket. Johnson relished the island's simple way of life, its setting, and its population which offered models of distinctive appearance and character. In the September 1885 issue of The Century Magazine, Lizzie W. Champney elaborates on Johnson's affinity for the island: "Nantucket, one of the rare spots which preserve the flavor and atmosphere of the olden time. The island--with its types of old men and women that are fading out elsewhere...has long been the property of Mr. Eastman Johnson. The man and the place have a natural sympathy for each other. He is a chronicler of a phase of our national life which is passing away, and which cannot be made up with old fashion-plates and the lay figures of the studio." (in P. Hills, The Genre Painting of Eastman Johnson: The Sources and Development of His Style and Themes, Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1973, pp. 144-45)
During the autumn months, Johnson observed the seasonal tradition of cranberry picking on the island. He was immediately enthused by the scene before him. In a letter from 1879 to his friend, the artist Jervis McEntee, Johnson writes: "I was taken with my cranberry fit as soon as I arrived (some people have rose fever yearly--I have the cranberry fever) as they began picking down on the meadow a day or two after we arrived and I have done nothing else since I have been here, not a thing..." (as quoted in Timken Art Gallery, Eastman Johnson: The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket, exhibition catalogue, Pasadena, California, 1990, San Diego, California, 1990, p. 31)
At the Closing of the Day depicts a woman leaning against cranberry barrels, momentarily at rest as the sun begins to set. In the far distance workers proceed up the hill to the left after they have completed their daily task. As she gazes to the far corner of the composition, her quiet, contemplative spirit brings an emotional element to the painting. The sun hits the edge of her body and the side of the barrels, creating a dramatic spotlight, a hallmark of Johnson's painting style from this time. The artist uses only a few bold strokes of white in the model's head scarf to achieve this effect. The theatrical lighting with dark shadows and bright highlights provides a crisp and clear delineation of that magical moment of rest being defined in the narrative.
On the reverse of At the Closing of the Day, Johnson depicts dozens of figure sketches of berry pickers, either standing or bending over their task. Johnson completed dozens of cranberry picker oil studies for one of the most luminous and fully realized masterworks of his career--The Cranberry Harvest from 1880 (Timken Art Gallery, Putnam Foundation Collection, San Diego, California). These studies provide a fascinating observation of how Johnson chose to construct his figures while in Nantucket, and provide a rare visual record of his first impressions of this subject.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work being compiled by Dr. Patricia Hills.
In an effort to find new and relevant subject matter, the painter found inspiration in the quiet whaling community of Nantucket. Johnson relished the island's simple way of life, its setting, and its population which offered models of distinctive appearance and character. In the September 1885 issue of The Century Magazine, Lizzie W. Champney elaborates on Johnson's affinity for the island: "Nantucket, one of the rare spots which preserve the flavor and atmosphere of the olden time. The island--with its types of old men and women that are fading out elsewhere...has long been the property of Mr. Eastman Johnson. The man and the place have a natural sympathy for each other. He is a chronicler of a phase of our national life which is passing away, and which cannot be made up with old fashion-plates and the lay figures of the studio." (in P. Hills, The Genre Painting of Eastman Johnson: The Sources and Development of His Style and Themes, Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1973, pp. 144-45)
During the autumn months, Johnson observed the seasonal tradition of cranberry picking on the island. He was immediately enthused by the scene before him. In a letter from 1879 to his friend, the artist Jervis McEntee, Johnson writes: "I was taken with my cranberry fit as soon as I arrived (some people have rose fever yearly--I have the cranberry fever) as they began picking down on the meadow a day or two after we arrived and I have done nothing else since I have been here, not a thing..." (as quoted in Timken Art Gallery, Eastman Johnson: The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket, exhibition catalogue, Pasadena, California, 1990, San Diego, California, 1990, p. 31)
At the Closing of the Day depicts a woman leaning against cranberry barrels, momentarily at rest as the sun begins to set. In the far distance workers proceed up the hill to the left after they have completed their daily task. As she gazes to the far corner of the composition, her quiet, contemplative spirit brings an emotional element to the painting. The sun hits the edge of her body and the side of the barrels, creating a dramatic spotlight, a hallmark of Johnson's painting style from this time. The artist uses only a few bold strokes of white in the model's head scarf to achieve this effect. The theatrical lighting with dark shadows and bright highlights provides a crisp and clear delineation of that magical moment of rest being defined in the narrative.
On the reverse of At the Closing of the Day, Johnson depicts dozens of figure sketches of berry pickers, either standing or bending over their task. Johnson completed dozens of cranberry picker oil studies for one of the most luminous and fully realized masterworks of his career--The Cranberry Harvest from 1880 (Timken Art Gallery, Putnam Foundation Collection, San Diego, California). These studies provide a fascinating observation of how Johnson chose to construct his figures while in Nantucket, and provide a rare visual record of his first impressions of this subject.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work being compiled by Dr. Patricia Hills.