id:edanmdm-saam_1986.79 url:edanmdm:saam_1986.79 hash:1c034498f876a2b66d9e98624e5a4af9b14c04eb type:edanmdm title:The Girl I Left Behind Me status:0 content: freetext: date: label:Date content:ca. 1872 name: label:Artist content:Eastman Johnson, born Lovell, ME 1824-died New York City 1906 notes: label:Gallery Label content:A young girl stands on a promontory, her hair streaming in the wind. The path before her ends, so she must either retrace her steps or try to find a different way forward. Johnson called this painting The Girl I Left Behind Me, invoking an Irish ballad that was popular with both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. In doing so, the artist opens the possibility that this young girl is doing more than waiting for the return of her husband. Her wedding ring, glinting in the light, speaks of commitment to her union, but is Johnson referring to her personal life or to the nation? The split-rail fence below her divides the landscape, and the fog surrounding her suggests a world fraught with ambivalence. She appears to wait for a sign of what will come next. label:Exhibition Label content:A girl stands on a promontory, her hair streaming in the wind. The path before her trails off, so she must either retrace her steps or try to find her way forward. Her wedding ring speaks to a commitment to her union and a husband who has gone to war. The split-rail fence below and the fog surrounding her speak to a world fraught with division and ambivalence. Johnson’s figure appears to be waiting for some sign of what will come next. The title comes from a Regimental song. label:Exhibition Label content:The Civil War and American Art, 2012 label:Publication Label content:The Civil War defined America and forever changed American art. American artists of this era could not depict the conflict using the conventions of European history painting, which glamorized the hero on the battlefield. Instead, America's finest painters captured the transformative impact of the war. Through landscapes and genre paintings, these artists gave voice to the nation's highest ideals and deepest concerns — illustrating a time that has been described as the second American Revolution. label:Publication Label content:Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015. topic: label:Topic content:Figure female\full length label:Topic content:History\United States\Civil War label:Topic content:Landscape\weather\wind label:Topic content:Object\written matter\book setName: label:See more items in content:Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection label:Department content:Painting and Sculpture label:On View content:Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, East Wing creditLine: label:Credit Line content:Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice in memory of her husband and by Ralph Cross Johnson dataSource: label:Data Source content:Smithsonian American Art Museum identifier: label:Object number content:1986.79 objectType: label:Type content:Painting objectRights: label:Restrictions & Rights content:CC0 physicalDescription: label:Medium content:oil on canvas label:Dimensions content:42 x 34 7/8 in. (106.7 x 88.7 cm.) indexedStructured: date: 1880s 1860s 1870s name: Johnson, Eastman place: United States topic: Weather Wind Landscapes Books and reading Civil War, 1861-1865 Figure female American Civil War (1861-1865) History exhibition: building:SAAM usage_flag: permcoll geoLocation: L1: type:Continent content: North America L2: type:Country content:United States of America object_type: Paintings onPhysicalExhibit: Yes online_media_type: Images descriptiveNonRepeating: guid:http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk79afb63a7-32dc-438b-9721-c49d853058bc title: label:Title content:The Girl I Left Behind Me record_ID:saam_1986.79 unit_code:SAAM title_sort:THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME data_source:Smithsonian American Art Museum record_link:http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=11492 online_media: media: guid:http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bj927ff3338-9912-43b0-8e13-53a55bf64f04 type:Images idsId:SAAM-1986.79_2 usage: access:CC0 content:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=SAAM-1986.79_2 thumbnail:http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=SAAM-1986.79_2 mediaCount:1 metadata_usage: access:CC0 version:0 linkedId:0 unitCode:SAAM timestamp:1583487418 docSignature:f8801139fc7cfea9ebe7634a424ce80cf53f96c0_7e23d3c16b7f9ec86de5a17077162f6c publicSearch:1 linkedContent:0 lastTimeUpdated:1583487395