Eastman Johnson, The Hague

"The Savoyard Boy" by Eastman Johnson

"Eastman Johnson became a painter in his own right in The Hague under the Dutch influence, and he would continue to draw inspiration from Rembrandt's light-bathed forms and expressive nuance and from the quiet intimism of rustic Dutch interiors by Dou and his own contemporary Bosboom.

 

Having made his way into the most vital community of painters at work in Holland, he found an environment that appears to have suited him in the domestic character of studio life and aesthetic reverence for humble material detail. Within this context he achieved his first successes as a painter and won the respect of Dutch and American patrons alike.

 

He made progress toward achieving increased facility in his figure painting with several versions of a composition known as 'The Savoyard Boy.' The subject, generally popular in European painting of the period, represented one of the many young boys of the Savoy region of the Italian Alps who commonly eked out meager livings as traveling street performers of chimney sweeps. The full-figure version was described as his 'first original and elaborate work in oil.'

 

Johnson's intended four months in The Hague became four years, during which he found the artistic practice and aesthetic that he would eventually adopt as his own. It is hardly surprising that in paraphrasing Johnson's own comments on his Dutch stay, his experience was one of 'unexpected opportunities.'"

 

To be continued

 

(Excerpts from "Eastman Johnson: Painting America" by Teresa Carbone and Patricia Hills.)