A Family Portrait by Eastman Johnson to Feature in Bellmans’ Upcoming Sale

26/09/2025     Pictures & Prints

Bellmans is delighted to present a rare and intimate work by one of America’s foremost 19th-century painters, Eastman Johnson (1824–1906), in our forthcoming Old Master, British & European Art Sale.

Portrait of Ethel Eastman Johnson Conkling with a Fan, the artist’s daughter
Portrait of Ethel Eastman Johnson Conkling with a Fan, the artist’s daughter (DETAIL), (1870-1931) (c. 1895) oil on canvas 116 x 63cm

The portrait offered for sale here is of Ethel Eastman Johnson Conkling (1870–1931), the daughter of Eastman Johnson. She married Alfred Ronalds Conkling in 1896 and, after Conkling died, she married again, to William H. Holden in 1922, settling abroad.

Ethel was Eastman Johnson’s frequent model in his genre scenes of children but is seen here, in a formal portrait from circa 1895, at about the age of twenty five, a year before her first marriage. A striking pose, she stands confidently, in profile but turning out towards us, with flushed cheeks and her fan held nonchalantly by her side. Behind her, a free, romantic landscape, made up of loose brushwork, gives her a great sense of definition, particularly around her face and brings her clearly into focus.

Often referred to as “The American Rembrandt”, Eastman Johnson was celebrated for his ability to combine the influence of the Dutch Golden Age painters of the 17th century with a style based in realism and a deeply American sensibility. A co-founder of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, he is best known for his genre scenes of domestic life and the great American outdoors, such as The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket, he also painted the Native American Ojibwe people, see Ojibwe Women, African-American subjects, see Negro Life in the South, and portraits of both everyday and prominent Americans, including Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. Today, his works hang in major institutions such as The Met, The Smithsonian, and The National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Portrait of Philip Carrigan Johnson, the artist’s father (detail), (1795-1859) (c. 1856) oil on canvas 24 x 19cm
Canal Scene (detail), (C. 1851) signed with initials 'E J' (lower right) oil on paper laid on board 30 x 39cm
Canal Scene (detail), (C. 1851) signed with initials 'E J' (lower right) oil on paper laid on board 30 x 39cm

Auction Details

  • Sale: Old Master, British & European Art, Wednesday 15 October
  • Auctioneer: Bellmans, Sussex
  • Lots: 1658,1659,1844
  • Estimate: £10,000 - £15,000, £600 - £800, £500 - £800 respectively

View the full catalogue and register to bid online here.A Family Portrait by Eastman Johnson to Feature in Bellmans’ Upcoming Sale