A Longshoreman

n.d.

John George Brown

Associated Names
John George Brown

Painter, American, born England, 1831 - 1913

In this painting, there is a man seated on the ground, one leg bent and one left stretched in front of him, facing the left. He sits in front of what looks like a stack of cotton bales, with fluffy white material peeking out of brown fabric. The man has peach-colored skin and a short brown beard, and his hair is obscured by a tan hat with a black ribbon. He wears a long-sleeved light blue shirt and light blue trousers, with a patch of red on his chest - perhaps a handkerchief in a breast pocket. His arms rest on his legs, and he has on dark brown boots. He has a white-and-silver pipe in his mouth and a wooden mallet or hammer tucked into his belt. The wall behind the brown bales is a brownish-gray color, and the floor beneath the man is brown, and scattered with white tufts.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 65

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; (his sale, by Robert Somerville, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, 26-27 January 1892, 1st day, no. 5); Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; (his sale, American Art Galleries, 14-17 February 1899, no. 20); A. Steckler. (sale, O'Reilly's Plaza Art Galleries, New York).[1] (John Levy Galleries, New York), in 1944.[2] private collection; by descent to consignor to 2009 sale; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, New York, 5 March 2009, no. 138); purchased by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] This information is from a label on the back of the frame. The painting has not yet been identified in an O'Reilly auction.
[2] The painting was included in an exhibition at the Levy Galleries; no owners were identified in the exhibition checklist.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1944

  • America in the 19th Century: Its People - Pleasures - And Pursuits, John Levy Galleries, New York, 16 May - 3 June 1944, no. 18.

Bibliography

2010

  • Hoppin, Martha. The World of J.G. Brown. Chesterfield, Massachusetts, 2010: 126, 127 fig. 6-4, 237 n. 57, 246.

2011

  • Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington, 2011: 146, 290, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: J.G. Brown N.A.

Wikidata ID

Q46626984

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