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Eastman Johnson
1824-1906
The Cranberry
Harvest, Island of Nantucket, 1880
Oil on canvas
27 3/8 x 54 1/2 in.
In 1870, after searching for aspects of
American rural life to use as subjects for ambitious
paintings, Johnson began to draw inspiration from Nantucket
Island, in Massachusetts. With this view of a cranberry
harvest, he successfully realized his efforts to paint a
celebration of New England outdoor life.
The work also marks a significant achievement in the history
of American art. Using an evocative, rather than
descriptive, technique, Johnson lavishes attention on the
landscape, from the dry grasses of the cranberry bog to the
distant and accurate view of Nantucket's spires and
lighthouse. The principle focus of this scene washed by
late-afternoon light is the configuration of pickers, and
their poses and gestures. The standing woman in the center
who looks at a boy carrying an infant to her creates a
narrative suggesting that the artist recorded the scene as
he witnessed it.