Eastman Johnson, Wisconsin

"Sarah Osgood Johnson Newton" by Eastman Johnson

"After six remarkable years abroad, Eastman Johnson sailed home on October 24th, 1855, and made his way to Washington, D.C., where he would soon reveal a determination to apply his dramatically expanded abilities to subjects that were clearly original and distinctly American. 

 

He immediately resumed portraiture and made his debut at the National Academy of Design with two pictures including a version of 'The Savoyard Boy.' By the summer of 1856, however, he was tempted away from his new artistic practice by the lure of the northwestern frontier and the possibilities that it offered for land speculation. His oldest brother, Reuben, had moved to the budding town of Superior, Wisconsin, where he had established a lumber mill. 

 

Johnson promptly made real-estate investments with his own and his father's money, and ventured into the wilder reaches of his new environment as well, setting out that winter to explore the farther shores of Lake Superior. He traveled as far as the Apostle Islands and Isle Royale in the company of a man named Stephen Bonga, a local guide of mixed Indian and African descent whose family had been active in the area's vast fur trade. 

 

Sketch of Eastman Johnson's cabin interior

They established a cabin opposite Duluth, where Johnson completed a sketch of the interior with a figure that may represent his companion. He was intrigued by the challenge of frontier life, but he had not yet decided to abandon the East completely and returned to Washington D.C."

 

To be continued

 

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