The Country Gallants

Artist John George Brown (American, 1831-1913)

Date1876

DimensionsFrame: 37 7/8 × 53 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (96.2 × 135.3 × 8.9 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1949.23

Not on View

Label TextAs industrialization and urbanization changed the landscape and society in the mid-1800s, America’s past became the object of romantic nostalgia. Scenes of simple, idealistic rural life like this one were sought by middleclass city dwellers. Born in England, but settling in New York in 1853, John George Brown was one of the most successful painters of such sentimental scenes of everyday life in the late 19th century.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, American Paintings, Toledo, 1979, p. 27, pl. 54.

Strickler, Susan E., "American paintings at the Toledo Museum of Art," Antiques, vol. 116, no. 5, Nov. 1979, p. 1114, repr. (col.) pl. IX.

Pierson, William H., Jr., and Martha Davidson, editors, Arts of the United States: A Pictorial Survey, New York, 1960, no. 2545, p. 300, repr.

Russell, Francis, American Heritage History of the Confident Years, New York, 1969, repr. (col.) p. 53.

Mendelowitz, Daniel M., A History of American Art, New York, 1970, p. 297, repr. fig. 403.

Cable, Mark, "Bringing Up Baby," American Heritage, vol. 24, no. 1, Dec. 1972, repr. (col.) p. 68-69.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 77 (col.).

Stockwell, Mary, The Ohio Adventure, Salt Lake City, Gibbs Smith, 2001, repr. on cover (col.).

Taylor, Bradley L., "The effect of surrogation on viewer response to expressional qualities in works of art," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 2001, pl. G4, p. 177.

Hoppin, Martha, The World of J.G. Brown, Chesterfield, MA, Chameleon Books, 2010, p. 95, fig. 4-18 (col.) p. 94.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, National Academy of Design, 1876, no. 384.

New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, American Paintings from the Toledo Museum of Art, 1986.

Springfield, Mass., George Walter Smith Art Museum; New York, National Academy of Design; Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum, Country Paths and City Sidewalks, the Art of J. G. Brown, 1989, no. 10, p. 15, 47, fig. 26 (col.).

New York Historical Society, New York, N.Y. 1989.