The Brown Family

Eastman Johnson

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts three individuals in a room. An elderly man is seated on a wooden chair, reading a newspaper, with a child standing beside him. The man has balding gray hair, round spectacles, and is dressed in a black suit. The child, wearing a bright blue coat and hat, faces the man with their back toward us. They have short blond hair that falls to their shoulders in soft ringlets. The man looks down at the child with a slight smile. On the right, a woman in a black dress sits on another chair, knitting. She looks up toward the man and child. All three of these people have light skin. The room around them has red curtains, white paneled walls, rich brown furniture, and an ornate white fireplace on the far right.