The Young Musicians

Details

EASTMAN JOHNSON (1824-1906)
The Young Musicians
signed and dated 'E. Johnson./62.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
19 x 15 in. (48.3 x 38.1 cm.)
Painted in 1862.

Provenance

(Possibly) Robert Leighton Stuart, Esq., New York, by 1867.
(Possibly) Alexander White, Chicago, Illinois.
(Possibly) George A. Leavitt & Co., New York, 12-13 December 1871, lot 107, sold by the above.
(Possibly) Jordan L. Mott, by 1877.
Dorothy Willard McCormick III, Lake Forest, Illinois.
Ira Spanierman, New York, 1971.
Steven Straw Company, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1979.
George Arden, New York, 1979.
Estate of the above.
Kenneth Lux, New York, by 1989.
Hon. Paul H. Buchanan, Jr., acquired from the above, 1989.
Heritage, Dallas, Texas, 10-11 June 2009, lot 77007, sold by the above.
Godel & Co., Inc., New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2010.

Literature

(Possibly) H.T. Tuckerman, Book of the American Artists: American Artist Life, New York, 1867, p. 626 (as The Musicians).
M.J. Hoppin, "The 'Little White Slaves' of New York: Paintings of Child Street Musicians by J. G. Brown," American Art Review, vol. XXVI, nos. 1-2, 1994, pp. 29, 31, fig. 18 illustrated (as The Little Musicians).

Exhibited

(Possibly) New York, National Academy of Design, Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Society of Decorative Art, 1877-1878, p. 14, no. 164 (as The Strolling Players).
Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, December 1991-December 1992.

Further details

This work is included as Hills number 22.0.2 in the Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné (eastmanjohnson.org) by Dr. Patricia Hills and Abigael MacGibeny.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Quincie Dixon Associate Specialist, Head of Sale

qdixon@christies.com +1 212 636 2141

Lot Essay

The Young Musicians is Eastman Johnson's charming interpretation of the popular 19th century American subject of child street musicians. According to Martha Hoppin, in the present work, "the boys do not look particularly poor (their clothing fits well and has no tears or holes) or conventionally Italian [as they were often portrayed in these scenes]...His little harpist, however, resembles some of [J.G.] Brown's later images of musicians in his very young age, absorbed expression, and cherubic figure...Johnson's scene takes place in a general outdoor setting and includes a sympathetic audience of a black man and young girls." ("The 'Little White Slaves' of New York: Paintings of Child Street Musicians by J. G. Brown," American Art Review, vol. XXVI, nos. 1-2, 1994, p. 31)

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