Exhibition Themes > Philanthropy, Social Services, Human Rights > 76. Eastman Johnson
76. Eastman Johnson (1824-1906). Portrait of Fredrick A. P. Barnard, 1886. Black and white chalk on prepared gray paper, mounted on linen, signed, (61 x 45.1) Office of Art Properties
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (1809-1889) succeeded Charles King as president of Columbia College, now Columbia University. During his long administration (1864-89), Columbia grew from a small undergraduate college of 150 students into one of the nation's great universities, with an enrollment of 1,500. He was instrumental in expanding the curriculum, adding departments, and fostering the development of the School of Mines (founded 1864; now part of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science). He extended the elective system and advocated equal educational privileges for men and women. Barnard College, the woman's undergraduate unit of Columbia, was named for him, a staunch advocate of higher education for women. Renowned for his sophisticated portrayals of American rural life, Eastman Johnson was also one of the most cosmopolitan painters of his era. During the 1880s, he turned almost exclusively to portraiture. This chalk drawing is probably a study for the large oil portrait that hangs in Low Memorial Library.
