Eastman Johnson (1824-1906)
Oil on canvas, 1896
Gift of the Partnership for New York City, Inc.
NYSM 2003.41.63

By the middle of the nineteenth century, Jackson Schultz and Co., with offices on Pearl Street in New York City, was considered the largest leather business in the world. Later in the century Schultz joined several colleagues in the Chamber of Commerce to support the development of a rapid transit system for the increasingly congested city.

The New York Chamber of Commerce commissioned Johnson to paint this replica of his earlier portrait of Schultz, which was probably in possession of the family at that time. After 1880, Johnson, famous for his genre scenes of American life, had turned his focus to filling lucrative portrait commissions.