Eastman Johnson

This intimate, almost melancholic scene set in a simple country house is unusual compared to other 19th-century American images of children, which tended instead toward the narratival, sentimental, or coy. The fine modeling of blended strokes on the child’s face suggests that the work is a likeness of a child Eastman Johnson knew, rather than a genre type. Johnson’s training in Düsseldorf and Paris influenced his confident handling of charcoal and vigorous use of line and shadow. In this drawing he employed overall tone, outlining with the edge of the charcoal as well as erasing to create contours.