Portrait of Genio C. Scott
Eastman Johnson (American, 1824–1906)
1859
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 102.3 x 127 cm (40 1/4 x 50 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Eastman Johnson portrayed Genio Scott (1806–1879) as a gentleman of means wearing an informal, yet stylish robe in his New York residence. Scott had a successful career as a women’s fashion illustrator and magazine publisher, but his true passion was fly-fishing. Details reveal his attachment to the sport: two fishing poles lean on the wall; three tied flies lie on the table; a fourth is held in his hand, ready to be placed in his leather-bound fishing wallet. During his lifetime, Scott witnessed the decline of American fish species, a loss largely attributed to the dumping of industrial pollutants into waterways. In his contributions to sporting magazines, he protested this environmental degradation and advocated for measures to revitalize diminishing populations.
