At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling
At the Camp—Spinning Yarns and Whittling
Artist
Eastman Johnson
(1824 - 1906)
Dateca. 1864-1866
MediumOil on board
Dimensions19 x 23 in. (48.3 x 58.4 cm)
Framed: 29 x 33 x 4 in. (73.7 x 83.8 x 10.2 cm)
Framed: 29 x 33 x 4 in. (73.7 x 83.8 x 10.2 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.86
Signedl.l.: E.J.
Accession number
2010.86
On View
On viewLabel TextThough this painting looks like an everyday scene, Eastman Johnson embedded within it an abolitionist message. Two men of different generations bide their time at a camp for processing maple sugar, an old fashioned process by this time. Importantly, maple sugar was a sweetener that, unlike cane sugar, did not rely on slave labor. Abolitionists urged consumers to boycott Southern goods such as cane sugar, empowering people to not only vote with their conscience, but with their wallets.
A pesar de que esta pintura parece mostrar una escena cotidiana, Eastman Johnson escondió en esta un mensaje abolicionista. Dos hombres de generaciones distintas esperan su turno en un campamento para procesar azúcar de arce, algo que para esta época ya era un proceso anticuado. Es importante notar que el azúcar de arce, era un edulcorante que, a diferencia del azúcar, no dependía de la mano de obra esclava. Los abolicionistas exhortaban a los consumidores a boicotear los bienes sureños, tales como el azúcar de caña, instando a las personas a votar no sólo con su conciencia, sino con su billetera también.
