Dr. Bracht
1851
Medium
Graphite and white chalk on brown wove paper
Dimensions
14 1/4 x 10 5/8 in. (36.2 x 27 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Thomas Colville, in memory of Stephen D. Rubin, 1991
Accession Number
1991.337
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Dr. Bracht** (1851) by Eastman Johnson is a compelling portrait drawing that captures the artist's early mastery of realism. Created when Johnson was in his late 20s, during his formative years studying in Europe—particularly in Düsseldorf and The Hague—this work exemplifies his transition from crayon portraits in the U.S. to more refined European-influenced techniques. The, Dr. Bracht, likely a figure from Johnson's Düsseldorf circle, is rendered with intimate detail, highlighting Johnson's rising prominence as a chronicler of American and European life before he became renowned for genre s...
About the Artist
Eastman Johnson · 1824–1906
Eastman Johnson (1824–1906) was an American painter known as "the American Rembrandt" for his richly toned genre paintings and portraits that constitute one of the most important visual records of nineteenth-century American life. Born in Lovell, Maine, he trained in Düsseldorf, The Hague — where he studied the Dutch Old Masters extensively — and Paris before returning to the United States. Johns...