John George Brown 1831 - 1913

Gill's Art Galleries, Springfield, Massachusetts, by 1894
Charles Shean, Springfield, Massachusetts (acquired from the above)
Col. Tenney, Longmeadow, Massachusetts, early 1900s
Mr. Robert Savoy, Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Bernard Tromblay, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1978 (acquired from the above)
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1980

Springfield, Massachusetts, Gill's Art Galleries, Gill's Seventeenth Annual Exhibition, 1894, no. 21

Martha Hoppin, The World of J.G. Brown, Chesterfield, Massachusetts, 2010, p. 170

This work is in very good condition. The canvas is unlined. There is frame abrasion at edges, with a small loss at the center left edge. There is 1 tiny chip of loss in the fence at upper left. Under UV: there is a possible dot of inpainting near the upper left edge.
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Not in It is a charming and witty painting that represents John George Brown at the height of his abilities.  This scene of childhood courtship exhibits the artist’s keen attention to detail and mastery of narrative.  Here a blond-haired boy, whose shy nature is conveyed by his sheepish body position and hands stuffed in his pockets looks on as another lad tries to cavalierly kiss the cheek of a girl seated between them.  The girl demurely holds her woven bag and looks coyly out at the viewer, indicating that she is in control of the situation.  The title is two-fold, referencing both the boy who quietly looks on as the scene unfolds and the fact that the three children are not in school although they all carry scholastic accessories.

Brown had a strong following among Springfield, Massachusetts collectors, including Charles Shean, the original purchaser of Not in It.  Martha Hoppin writes, “Brown’s Springfield patrons reflected the same mix of backgrounds as the New York patrons: wealthy merchants and industrialists, some of them self-made men.  Charles Nichols began as a newsboy selling papers on the trains, and in true Horatio Alger style, he worked his way up to becoming the owner of a publishing company... Charles Shean had actually been a bootblack and became a leading Springfield hotel owner.  He decorated his hotel’s bar and grill with paintings he bought at Gill’s gallery, among them a scene of children by Brown called Not in It and trompe l’oeil still lifes by William Harnett and John Haberle”  (The World of J.G. Brown, Chesterfield, Massachusetts, 2010, p. 170).