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Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket

Dozens of figures in a brown field filled with discarded corn silks form two rows and sit across from each other husking corn, a farm in the background.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Dozens of figures in a brown field filled with discarded corn silks form two rows and sit across from each other husking corn, a farm in the background.

Date:

1876

Artist:

Eastman Johnson
American, 1824–1906

About this artwork

One of several genre paintings in Eastman Johnson’s oeuvre that takes its nostalgic theme from rural Nantucket, Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket is a timeless evocation of agrarian peace and cooperation. Stylistically, the painting fuses landscape and genre, and Johnson further imbued the scene with a Barbizon, plein-air sensibility. The autumnal palette is interspersed with bright patches of red, blue, and green that appear like sparks amidst the shimmering gold of the cornhusks. Johnson carefully included a woman discovering a red ear of corn, which, according to folk tradition, would allow her to kiss the person of her choice. This combination of indigenous subject matter and an international style was typical of American art around the time of the country’s centennial.

Status

On View, Gallery 171

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Eastman Johnson

Title

Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket

Place

Nantucket Island (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1876

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed lower left: "E. Johnson/1876"

Dimensions

69.3 × 137 cm (27 1/4 × 54 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Honoré and Potter Palmer

Reference Number

1922.444

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/81564/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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