American Rembrandt, Eastman Johnson & His Contemporaries
by Sarah Teach
You know Nantucket is easy to enjoy, if not impossible to resist loving! But did you know that you share that sentiment with “The American Rembrandt”? A co-founder of the MoMa, major 19th century genre painter Eastman Johnson first visited the island in 1869, the same year that the last Nantucket whale ship departed. Decades after the whaling boom had died down, the island was an economic mess. A pioneer of Nantucket seasonal residency, Johnson escaped the heat of the city and purchased a summer home on Cliff Road, where he employed paint to truthfully chronicle that period of Nantucket life. For the remainder of 2011, you have the opportunity to see originals of some of the 19th century’s preeminent paintings of Nantucket’s landscapes, seascapes, and populace. Prepare to be amazed by the honest yet exquisite works of Eastman Johnson & His Contemporaries, currently being shown in the Nantucket Historical Association’s Whitney Gallery.
You’ll nod with familiarity as you notice the placement of classic Windsor armchairs and traditional lightship baskets (painted well before they became a fashion statements), among other items that have come to symbolize Nantucket. The feel of the gallery is intimate, and it is conducive to pondering art on your own or admiring it with a friend. Each work draws you in with mystifying little details that you could spend hours poring over. If you’re the type who appreciates the tangible aspects of gallery going, then you will relish your being on Nantucket as you examine the actual brushstrokes made by Eastman Johnson, not but a mile from where you stand. Note the individuality and deep character of his subjects’ faces; these were real people who once walked the exact same streets that you’ve walked today. This is your chance to get a glimpse of the old Nantucket life that Johnson recorded from his home studio on North Road, what is now 41 Cliff Road.
As the exhibition’s title suggests, Eastman Johnson’s paintings are accompanied by a number of works of his contemporaries. Any fine art lover will jump at the chance to see the NHA’s newest George Inness acquisition: the original Back of Nichols’ Barn, ‘Sconset. See two sketches by William Trost Richards, who became renowned for his New England seascapes illustrating subjects such as the Sankaty Head Lighthouse. You can also view several works by John Alexander MacDougall Jr., Eastman Johnson’s friend, student, and neighbor on Cliff Road. You’ll recognize the setting of MacDougall’s 1901 pastel, Maxey’s Pond Nantucket. Adding some distinguished local color to the exhibition is a great work of William Ferdinand Macy, who was a descendent of the earliest Nantucket settlers.
As we drift out of autumn and into winter, we can give an affectionate “see you later” to Eastman Johnson’s favorite time of year on Nantucket: the cranberry harvest! Immediately upon his discovery of this annual island ritual, Johnson was transfixed by it. He began regularly feeding this obsession that would birth the most celebrated work of his life: The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket. The NHA’s Robyn and John Davis Chief Curator Ben Simons says that it is “…widely regarded as one of the most important American paintings composed on Nantucket.” Today, the masterpiece can be seen at the Timken Art Gallery in San Diego. The Whitney Gallery proudly offers us a good, long look at In The Fields, one of the 22 studies Johnson completed before painting the final work. Simons calls it, “…A rich autumnal setting of the cliff down the bank from [Johnson’s] house – a beautiful expanse of land near the shore blanketed with grasses, wildflowers, and the harvest of ripe cranberries.”
The sweeping landscapes Johnson captured on canvas are indeed magnificent, but it was portraiture that brought him widespread acclaim. Revealing the worn out faces of islanders weathered by years spent fighting the winds and seas, Eastman Johnson didn’t embellish Nantucket, as many artists tended to do. Johnson simply presented the island and its characters as they were. You might wonder how exactly he, a wealthy outsider who often painted the likes of U.S. presidents, was able to pull this off. Did he just prance right into the closed little island community and immediately ask people to pose for him? Johnson was among some of the very first seasonal residents of Nantucket, but he somehow managed to work his way into the hearts of Nantucketers. Simons says, “It seems to me that he was a very warmhearted, sociable fellow who just had a knack for finding his way into communities. He wanted to show the Nantucket community for what it was: not broken, but integrated. A community with fabric that was still whole even after the [whaling] industry had failed.”
See Eastman Johnson & His Contemporaries at The Whitney Gallery within the NHA Research Library at 7 Fair St, just beyond Murray’s Toggery Shop. You have until Dec 31 to make it over! Admission is free, and hours are: Mon, Thurs, and Fri 10am to 4pm; Tues 11am to 4pm.
