Art Institute of Chicago

Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket

Eastman Johnson (American, 1824–1906)

Date

1876

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Nantucket Island

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Eastman Johnson painted this composition in 1876, 100 years after the founding of the United States. The centennial fostered a sense of nostalgia among some residents as industrialization and urban growth rapidly transformed the nation. Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket depicts a seasonal gathering on the rural Massachusetts island. Community members work together to shuck corn and ready the harvest, a traditional activity that was far removed from daily life for many in the late 19th century. Johnson employed a warm palette and loose brushwork to describe this agrarian subject, presenting an uncomplicated vision of cooperation and closeness to the land.

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