Eastman Johnson American, 1824-1906
This painting likely is the sketch for Johnson's large portrait of John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn that was lost in a fire in the New York State Capitol building in 1911. As reported by the New York Evening Post, April 4, 1911: "Another loss was Eastman Johnson's portrait of Chancellor Pruyn. This was considered one of the finest specimens of Eastman Johnson's work and was valued at a high figure. There is a water-color sketch of the same portrait in the possession of William G. Rice of Albany, and it is likely that it will be loaned to the state in order that a copy may be made from it." A copy by Albany artist George Hughes, featuring the sitter at half length rather than full length, hangs in the New York State Senate lobby today.