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Christmas-Time, The Blodgett Family

Eastman Johnson American
1864
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 762
This portrait shows the family of William Tilden Blodgett (1823–1875), a leading collector, founding trustee of The Met, and active abolitionist, in the Renaissance Revival parlor of their house on West Twenty-Fifth Street in New York City. Painted during the political and moral upheaval of the Civil War, the serene interior, decorated for Christmas, embodies "the best sentiment of home," as a critic observed in 1865. Only the toy of a caricatured Black male dancer, handled by the young boy and the center of the family’s attention, evokes the pressing racial issues of the time.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Christmas-Time, The Blodgett Family
  • Artist: Eastman Johnson (American, Lovell, Maine 1824–1906 New York)
  • Date: 1864
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 30 x 25in. (76.2 x 63.5cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Whitney Blodgett, 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.486
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Powder Horn, Horn (cow), lead, American
Powder Horn
American
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Still Life—Violin and Music, William Michael Harnett American, Oil on canvas, American
Still Life—Violin and Music
William Michael Harnett
1888
Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln), Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze, American
Abraham Lincoln: The Man (Standing Lincoln)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1884–87; reduced 1910; cast 1911
The Hatch Family, Eastman Johnson American, Oil on canvas, American
The Hatch Family
Eastman Johnson
1870–71

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