Portrait of Genio C. Scott (1859): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Genio C. Scott (1859) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Eastman Johnson (American, 1824–1906).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Genio C. Scott
• Date: 1859
• Creator attribution: Eastman Johnson (American, 1824–1906)
• Culture: United States
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Unframed: 102.3 x 127 cm (40 1/4 x 50 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1965.475

A detail from the museum

Genio Scott's detailed writings describing 19th-century fish distribution remain highly useful for present-day conservationists.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Sherman E. Lee. Golden Anniversary Acquisitions [Exhibition] September 10 Through October 16 [1966]. [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.