1880, Eastman Johnson, The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket -- Timken Museum of Art (San Diego)
From the museum label: A handmade sign at left reads: "No Pass Over the Cranberry Lot." This posted warning against trespassing stands in visible contradiction to the large assemblage of community members who are busy harvesting the crop in this painting. Young women, older men, and children cluster in groups on the cranberry bog, while the village of Nantucket off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, shimmers in the distance. Eastman Johnson, who maintained a studio on the island starting in 1859, painted numerous views of the annual harvest. Johnson was considered the preeminent genre painter of his generation and scholars often mention The Cranberry Harvest among his finest efforts. Less often recognized is the fact that, especially after the Civil War, Johnson deliberately depicted scenes of American labor where women occupied prominent roles. Near the compositional center of The Cranberry Harvest, a woman interrupts her work to stand up, pillar-like and proud. From the right, a young boy carries a baby in his arms to her. In this scene of social gathering and communal effort, women occupy a heroic place.
1880, Eastman Johnson, The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket -- Timken Museum of Art (San Diego)
From the museum label: A handmade sign at left reads: "No Pass Over the Cranberry Lot." This posted warning against trespassing stands in visible contradiction to the large assemblage of community members who are busy harvesting the crop in this painting. Young women, older men, and children cluster in groups on the cranberry bog, while the village of Nantucket off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, shimmers in the distance. Eastman Johnson, who maintained a studio on the island starting in 1859, painted numerous views of the annual harvest. Johnson was considered the preeminent genre painter of his generation and scholars often mention The Cranberry Harvest among his finest efforts. Less often recognized is the fact that, especially after the Civil War, Johnson deliberately depicted scenes of American labor where women occupied prominent roles. Near the compositional center of The Cranberry Harvest, a woman interrupts her work to stand up, pillar-like and proud. From the right, a young boy carries a baby in his arms to her. In this scene of social gathering and communal effort, women occupy a heroic place.