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Feeding the Turkey

Eastman Johnson American
ca. 1872–80
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 758
Although his oeuvre in pastel crayon includes no more than twenty pieces, it is nonetheless highly significant, not only because Johnson’s handling of the material was so skillful but also because he was one of the few American artists who used it during the mid-nineteenth century. Johnson began using pastel in 1847—making him practically unique among his colleagues—and may have come to regard pastel, which shared basic properties with the other drawing media he used so comfortably, as a reasonable way to add color to his work. This particular work is part of a series leading up to an oil painting of the same title. He probably used his daughter Ethel as his model.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Feeding the Turkey
  • Artist: Eastman Johnson (American, Lovell, Maine 1824–1906 New York)
  • Date: ca. 1872–80
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Pastel on wove paper, mounted to canvas on a wooden stretcher
  • Dimensions: 24 x 14 in. (61 x 35.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, in memory of William Brown Cogswell, 1946
  • Object Number: 46.47
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
The New Bonnet, Eastman Johnson American, Oil on academy board, American
The New Bonnet
Eastman Johnson
1876
Vase with cornstalks, Tiffany Studios, Porcelaneous earthenware, American
Vase with cornstalks
Tiffany Studios
ca. 1904–05
Nurse and Child, Mary Cassatt American, Pastel on wove paper (originally blue), mounted on canvas, American
Nurse and Child
Mary Cassatt
1896–97
Shop Girls, William James Glackens American, Pastel and watercolor on illustration board, American
Shop Girls
William James Glackens
ca. 1900
Christmas-Time, The Blodgett Family, Eastman Johnson American, Oil on canvas, American
Christmas-Time, The Blodgett Family
Eastman Johnson
1864

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