The Lord Is My Shepherd

Eastman Johnson, The Lord Is My Shepherd, 1863, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1979.5.13
Eastman Johnson, The Lord Is My Shepherd, 1863, oil on fiberboard, 16 5813 18 in. (42.333.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1979.5.13
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Artwork Details

Title
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Date
1863
Dimensions
16 5813 18 in. (42.333.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • African American
  • Figure male
  • Religion — Christianity
  • Recreation — leisure — reading
Object Number
1979.5.13

Artwork Description

Eastman Johnson painted The Lord Is My Shepherd only months after the Emancipation Proclamation of New Year's Day, 1863. The image of a humble black man reading from his Bible was reassuring to white Americans uncertain of what to expect from the freed slaves. But the simple act of reading was itself a political issue. Emancipation meant that blacks must educate themselves in order to be productive, responsible citizens. In the slaveholding South, teaching a black person to read had been a crime; in the North, the issue was not "May they read?" but "They must read."

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (10 items)

Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Hip Hop, 1993, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.7, © 1993, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Hip Hop
Date1993
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Looking Out, 1991, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.6, © 1991, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Looking Out
Date1991
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Street Champion, 1986, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.5, © 1986, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Street Champion
Date1986
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., The Guardian, 1990, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.4, © 1990, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
The Guardian
Date1990
gelatin silver print
Not on view

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      In this podcast, curator Eleanor Jones Harvey discusses 6 featured paintings from The Civil War and American Art exhibition. This episode looks at The Lord Is My Shepherd by Eastman Johnson. The Civil War and American Art examines how America's artists represented the impact of the Civil War and its aftermath. The exhibition follows the conflict from palpable unease on the eve of war, to heady optimism that it would be over with a single battle, to a growing realization that this conflict would not end quickly and a deepening awareness of issues surrounding emancipation and the need for reconciliation. Genre and landscape painting captured the transformative impact of the war, not traditional history painting. 

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