The Early Scholar

c. 1865

Eastman Johnson

Painter, American, 1824 - 1906

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on academy board on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 43.2 x 53.7 cm (17 x 21 1/8 in.)
    framed: 61.6 x 71.8 x 6 cm (24 1/4 x 28 1/4 x 2 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.157

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist, New York.[1] F. Reside; his estate; (sale, Silo's Galleries, New York, 21 February 1931, no. 274); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[2] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] An undated photograph reproduced in Edgar French, "An American Portrait Painter of Three Historical Epochs," World's Work 13 (1906): 123, depicts Johnson's studio, in which the NGA version of The Early Scholar can be discerned on the left wall.
[2] Provenance information is provided in undated notes, NGA curatorial files, from information conveyed by Mary Towar Bullard (Mrs. Chester) Dale in May 1959.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1937

  • An Exhibition of American Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, The Union League Club, New York, 1937, no. 24.

1940

  • Eastman Johnson, 1824-1906: An American Genre Painter, Brooklyn Museum, 1940, no. 95

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1940

  • L., J.W. [probably Lane, James W.] "The Brown Decades Seen by Eastman Johnson." Art News 38 (3 February 1940): 20.

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 36, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 74, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 184, repro.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 72, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 148-149, repro.

1987

  • Link, William A. "'Rough Times': Rural Education in Late-Nineteenth-Century Virginia." Virginia Cavalcade 37 (Summer 1987): color repro. 21.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 82, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 212, repro.

1996

  • Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 373-376, color repro.

1997

  • Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA: One Hundred Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. St. Louis, 1997: 54-55, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: E.J.

Wikidata ID

Q20188663

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