“Boyhood of Lincoln”
Today, the genre artist referred to in his time as the “The American Rembrandt”…
“Boyhood of Lincoln” is an oil on canvas painting by the American genre and portrait artist, Eastman Johnson, from 1868. Johnson painted this piece just three years after Lincoln’s assassination.
Known for his wonderful and emotional way of capturing the lives of ordinary Americans, Johnson turned his attention towards a memorial of the recently assassinated president. The American Civil War was over, and the country was in shambles. Lincoln was seen (by some) as the savior of the union. He was deep in the minds of Americans at this time.
Johnson decided to depict Lincoln’s early upbringing, the boyhood of Lincoln. This was a seldom seen, but often mythologized aspect of his background. He was known for having come from a relatively modest background, and for using self-determination to climb the country’s political system. In this piece, he is shown as a young boy reading a book by the firelight. It hearkens back to a simpler time, to an America that had not yet seen the brutalities of the Civil War.
Johnson made an earlier version of this painting in 1867 using oil on panel. The earlier piece is nearly identical with only slight variations. It is currently on display at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the United States.
“Boyhood of Lincoln” is currently in the collections of the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States.
For more on Eastman Johnson, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
