Not at Home
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
The painting’s title may seem curious, especially since there is clearly someone in this comfortably furnished domestic interior. In the past, however, the phrase “not at home” indicated that the occupants of the house were not available to receive visitors.
This painting held a particularly personal meaning for Eastman Johnson. It shows his wife, Elizabeth, climbing the stairs leading to more private areas of their residence on Manhattan’s West Fifty-fifth Street.
Caption
Eastman Johnson (American, 1824–1906). Not at Home, ca. 1873. Oil on laminated paperboard, 26 7/16 x 22 5/16 in. (67.1 x 56.7 cm) frame: 42 7/16 x 38 5/16 x 5 1/2 in. (107.8 x 97.3 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Gwendolyn O. L. Conkling, 40.60. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Not at Home
Date
ca. 1873
Medium
Oil on laminated paperboard
Classification
Dimensions
26 7/16 x 22 5/16 in. (67.1 x 56.7 cm) frame: 42 7/16 x 38 5/16 x 5 1/2 in. (107.8 x 97.3 x 14 cm)
Signatures
Signed verso in cursive: "E. Johnson"
Credit Line
Gift of Gwendolyn O. L. Conkling
Accession Number
40.60
Frequent Art Questions
Why is the woman in this painting in the dark?
It's interesting that the parlor is more brightly lit and becomes the focus of the scene while she is off to the side and in the darker staircase area.The title does provide a clue. Someone may be paying her a formal visit at her home. If a woman chose not to receive guests at that moment, she could tell her maid to tell the visitor that she was "not at home." She seems to be excusing herself from the scene and moving into the private, darker part of the house.Yes, it looks as if she's hiding. But it's a great approach to portrait exactly this moment!Indeed! We've probably all been "not at home" at some point when someone has stopped by.
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