Eastman Johnson letters
name: label: Creator
content: Johnson, Eastman, 1824-1906
label: Names
content: Benson, Eugene, 1837-1908
label: Names
content: Lanman, Charles, 1819-1895
label: Names
content: Leutze, Emanuel, 1816-1868
label: Names
content: McEntee, Jervis, 1828-1891
label: Names
content: Ordway, Alfred T., 1819-1897
label: Names
content: Wolf, Henry, 1852-1916
topic: label: Topic
content: Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Painting, Modern -- 19th century -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Items were donated in 1979 by Caroline Johnson Brown, Johnson's grand-niece, in 1976 by Letitia Howe, and by Charles E. Feinberg, an active donor to the Archives of American Art between 1955 and 1962, and were microfilmed after receipt.
creator: label: Creator
content: Johnson, Eastman, 1824-1906
setName: label: See more items in
content: Eastman Johnson letters
abstract: label: Summary
content: The letters of Eastman Johnson measures 0.2 linear feet and contains 12 items that date from 1851 to 1899. The letters provide scattered documentation of his career as a painter and printmaker.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: American painter and printmaker Jonathan Eastman Johnson was born in Lovell, Maine in 1824. After apprenticing with a Boston lithographer, he moved to Washington D.C. in 1845 and became a portraitist of prominent Americans, including Daniel Webster and Dolly Madison. Beginning in 1849, Johnson spent two years at the Royal Academy in Dusseldorf, Germany, studying with Emanuel Leutze, and three years at The Hague. After returning to America in 1855, he settled in New York and focused on painting American genre subjects including Native Americans, African Americans, and farmers. He married Elizabeth Buckley in 1869, and they bought a home in Nantucket where he spent every summer for the rest of his life. After 1880, as the popularity of genre paintings declined, Johnson focused again on portraiture. He died in 1906.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1851-1899
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.johneast
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection, items are categorized into one series consisting of two folders. Items are arranged chronologically.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was received in several accessions and microfilmed at some point after receipt on reels D10, D30, D316, 2814, 5030, 1817, and 3483. The entire collection was fully processed, arranged, and described by Erin Corley and scanned in 2005, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: The papers of Eastman Johnson were digitized in 2005 by the Archives of American Art, and total 29 images.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The letters of Eastman Johnson measures 0.2 linear feet and contains 12 items that date from 1851 to 1899. The letters provide scattered documentation of his career as a painter and printmaker.

The collection includes a letter to Mr. Champney concerning a painting by Eugene Benson, a letter to Charles Lanman, personal Secretary to Daniel Webster, a letter to Alfred Ordway, artist and Director of Paintings at the Boston Athenaeum, a letter to friend and patron John Coyle, and a letter to Mr. Cozzens concerning a painting which was already sold. Also found are two letters to artist and close friend Jervis McEntee, a letter to an unidentified Mrs. P, stating that he must go to Albany before starting another picture, a letter to Mr. Clark concerning a portrait, and a letter to Dr. Hochheimer regarding a print by Henry Wolf after one of Johnson's paintings. Also included in the collection is an oversize letter, written by Johnson in Dusseldorf, to his friend Charlotte Child, in which he speaks of his impressions of Germany, mutual friends, and working in Leutze's studio.