The New Bonnet

Eastman Johnson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

During the 1870s, Johnson found inspiration on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island that preserved reassuring American traditions in an era of change. In an old-fashioned kitchen, a young woman shows off a new plumed hat to her more simply clothed sister. Their father, having returned with the shopper, warms his hands at the fireside and waits for the beverage being prepared by his more restrained daughter. The older man and the humble interior, exuding respect for the past, are in strong counterpoint to the fashionable daughter and her purchase. Johnson’s narrative commemorates time gone by and takes note of rising consumerism.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art