The Smithsonian American Art Museum has awarded its 2005 Charles C. Eldredge Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in American Art to Elizabeth Johns, professor emerita of the history of art at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Johns is being recognized for her recent book, "Winslow Homer: The Nature of Observation" (University of California Press, 2002), a complex and sympathetic portrait of the artist.

“Johns attends to Homer’s status within American cultural life, and notes the ever-changing functions assigned to him by several generations of critics and mythologizers,” the Eldredge Prize jurors wrote in their decision. “But more fundamentally, she unveils Homer’s rich emotional life, charts the many uncertainties and difficult choices that confronted him, and pinpoints the personal and professional crises that constituted crucial turning points. In a series of sensitive readings, Johns meshes art and life at each stage of Homer’s career, and discloses new shades of meaning in his art, from the earliest Civil War paintings to the late sea epics. Arguing forcefully that we must reckon with Homer’s belief in the presence of God in the world, Johns imbues those late paintings in particular with spiritual grandeur and transcendence.” 

The three jurors who awarded the $2,000 prize were: Sarah Burns of Indiana University, Neil Harris of the University of Chicago, and Barbara Haskell of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Johns will deliver the annual Eldredge Prize lecture on Thursday, December 8, at 3:30 p.m., at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Her talk, which will be followed by a reception, will be titled “Writing About Winslow Homer.” 

The Charles C. Eldredge Prize, named in honor of the former director of the museum (1982–1988), is sponsored by the American Art Forum, a patrons’ support organization at the museum. This annual award, initiated in 1989, seeks to recognize originality and thoroughness of research, excellence of writing and clarity of method. Single-author, book-length publications in the field of American art history appearing within the three previous calendar years are eligible. It is especially meant to honor those authors who deepen or focus debates in the field or who broaden the discipline by reaching beyond traditional boundaries. December 1st is the deadline for 2006 nominations. For further information about the Eldredge Prize and a complete list of past winners, visit the museum’s web site at AmericanArt.si.edu/education/opportunities-eldredge.cfm.

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