The Cider Mill

Combining exacting realism and wholesome sentiment, John George Brown’s The Cider Mill presents a glimpse into an idyll of rural American childhood. Having filled their basket, five little girls have settled themselves high up on an abandoned sled to indulge in a snack of ripe apples. Two of the girls hold apples in their laps, and the ground is littered with even more apples, among which a white hen wanders. Brown’s theme of contentment and abundance is carried into other elements of the scene: the rich late-summer sunshine lighting up the background, where tall grasses reach up to the overhanging boughs of the still-laden apple tree, and the sturdy, well-cared-for appearance of these innocent country girls. Their pink, round-cheeked faces are echoed by the fruit they bite into, a metaphor for their own potential ripening as anticipated by the more mature figure of the girl in front, whose hips create a sensuous line as she leans to her left, gazing directly at the viewer.

In contrast to the healthful appearance of the girls, the casual disorder of the scene indicates that the unseen cider mill is abandoned. Indeed, in the late nineteenth century, a national movement to eradicate intoxicating drink targeted cider, an alcoholic beverage widely consumed by adults and children alike. Here, the morally objectionable cider mill has been displaced by the fresh-faced children who, in their simple consumption of the fruit, return the apple to its treasured role as a quintessentially American product of agrarian bounty and a symbol of democracy. At the same time, however, this rather rare scene of an all-female group evokes biblical associations between apples and knowledge, suggesting the inevitable end of childhood innocence.

Brown’s genre paintings of children are divided between such wholesome rural scenes, in which girls often predominate, and images of urban youth, generally boys. He worked in his studio in New York City, but found his rural scenes during summer excursions to locales ranging from New Hampshire’s White Mountains to Long Island, any of which might have furnished the venue for The Cider Mill. Brown’s favorite outdoor setting was the sun-dappled woodland interior, elements of which appear in this painting, with its careful attention to the play of broken light over the scene.

Life in 19th Century America, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, September 11–November 15, 1981. [exh. cat.]

Exhibition, Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, Fall 1984. [exh. cat.]

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.

Nineteenth Century Genre Painting from The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, November 15, 1985–January 12, 1986.

Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Painting, 1840–1910, The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York (organizer). Venues: The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York, May 18–July 14, 1986; The Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum, Rochester, New York, August 17–November 30, 1986. [exh. cat.]

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Life in 19th Century America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 24–September 6, 1987.

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

Country Paths and City Sidewalks: The Art of J.G. Brown, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Springfield, Massachusetts, March 19–May 21, 1989; National Academy of Design, New York, New York, July 10–September 10, 1989; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, October 13–December 3, 1989. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 1991.

The Apple of America: The Apple in 19th Century American Art, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, May 5–June 26, 1993. [exh. cat.]

Visions of a Nation: Exploring Identity through American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 10, 1996–January 12, 1997.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999; Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1999–May 7, 2000 (in modified form). [exh. cat.]

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9–April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007 (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008 (exhibited in Beijing and Shanghai). [exh. cat.]

Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in 19th-Century American Art. Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey (organizer). Venues: Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, September 12, 2012–January 6, 2013; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee, February 16–May 26, 2013; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, June 28–September 30, 2013. [exh. cat.]

“American Art Chronicle: Auction Sales.” The American Art Review 2, no. 5 (March 1881): 216–217. Text p. 216.

Sokol, David M. Life in 19th Century America: An Exhibition of American Genre Painting. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Evanston, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1981. Text p. 26; ill. p. 17, fig. 33 (black & white).

Vose Galleries. (exh. cat., Vose Galleries). Boston, Massachusetts: Vose Galleries, 1984. Text pp. 20, 24; ill. p. 20 (black & white).

Edwards, Lee M. Domestic Bliss: Family Life in American Painting, 1840–1910. (exh. cat., The Hudson River Museum). Yonkers, New York: The Hudson River Museum, 1986. Text pp. 110, 112; ill. p. 58, fig. 61 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Text p. 130; ill. p. 140, pl. T-31, p. 140 (color).

Hoppin, Martha J. Country Paths and City Sidewalks: The Art of J.G. Brown. (exh. cat., George Walter Smith Art Museum). Springfield, Massachusetts: George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, 1989. Text pp. 17, 47 (checklist); ill. p. 34, fig. 25 (color).

“Youngsters of Yore.” Colonial Homes (October 1989): 63–66. Text p. 65; ill. p. 65 (color).

Winslow Homer in Gloucester. (exh. cat. Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1990. Text p. 36; ill. p. 37, fig. 25 (black & white).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." Journal of the American Medical Association 264, no. 8 (Aug 22/29, 1990): 968. Text p. 968; ill. cover (color).

"The Cider Mill," John George Brown. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, August 1991. Ill. (black & white).

Southgate, M. Therese. "The Cover." Journal of the American Medical Association Middle East (September 1991): 12. Text p. 12; ill. cover (color).

Weber, Bruce. The Apple of America: The Apple in 19th Century American Art. (exh. cat., Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc.). New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1993. Text (checklist); ill. pl. 19 (black & white).

North Loop News. Chicago (September 1, 1994): 7. Text p. 7.

The Child's Doctor: Journal of the Children's Memorial Hospital 13, no. 2 (Spring 1996): cover. Ill. cover (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text pp. 19, 23 (checklist); ill. p. 19, fig. 21 (black & white).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text pp. 19, 23 (checklist); ill. p. 19, fig. 21 (black & white).

Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association (September 2002): cover. Ill. cover (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 84, 192; ill. pp. 11 (color), 85 (color), 192 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 84, 192; ill. pp. 11 (color), 85 (color), 192 (black & white).

Hoppin, Martha. The World of J. G. Brown. Chesterfield, Massachusetts: Chameleon Books, 2010. Text pp.107, 225n49; ill. p. 108 (color).

Greenhill, Jennifer A. Playing it Straight: Art and Humor in the Gilded Age. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 2012. Text, pp. 52–53; ill. p. 53, fig. 20 (black & white).

Conner, Holly Pyne. Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth-Century American Art. (exh. cat. Newark Museum). Newark, New Jersey: Newark Museum, 2012. Text, pp. 61, 63, 168 (checklist); ill. p. 62, fig. 41 (color).

DeBerry, Linda. "Girlhood in 19th-Century American Art." American Art Review (July–August 2013): 92–97. Ill. p. 94 (color).

Leggio, Gail. “Angels and Tomboys: Picturing the American Girl.” American Arts Quarterly 30 (Winter 2013): 23–31. Text p. 25.

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 87-89, 90; fig. 6, p. 88 (color).