Black Renaissance – Joshua Johnson
Joshua Johnson (1765 - 1830), whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, is reportedly America’s first professional black artist that was a free man. He was one of few successful African-American portrait painters and the first to become established as a portrait painter. His style was derived from the conventional English portrait style of bust-length poses and arranged backdrops. William Johnson, as called by owners of his portraits, was a Freeman, or freed slave, who may have earned his freedom through the sale of his artworks. He worked in Baltimore for over 30 years, from 1795 – 1825.
Not much known about Johnson since he moved so often throughout Baltimore and its Fells Point neighborhood. Scholar J. Hall Pleasants surmises that Johnson was probably once a slave, a house servant of a portrait painter, to Polk or Charles Willson or Rembrandt Peale. Pleasants associates Johnson’s style with that of the Peale-Polk family of portraits for its hard, linear, well-executed and attractive painting.
Johnson has thirteen known works in existence. Nine of his thirteen paintings are of children or of families with children. Pleasants has analyzed Johnson’s portraits and discovered the following characteristics: there is a “peculiar rigidity” of arms, hands legs and feet; the subjects’ faces are shown in three-quarter view; their eyes directed upward and their mouths drawn together tightly with no facial expression; the subjects often hold objects, such as books, riding crops, letters, basket, parasol, pencil, sextant, fruit or cake; brass tacks were used in upholstered settees or chairs of Sheraton type; the backgrounds of his compositions are dark and somber; and dark or red curtains are shown.
References:
1) AskArt.com. “Joshua Johnson”, 10 October 2007, <http://www.askart.com/AskART/J/joshua_johnson/joshua_johnson.aspx?ID=21306>.
2) MarylandArtSource.org. “Joshua Johnson”, 10 October 2007,
<http://www.marylandartsource.org/artists/detail_000000091.html>.
3) MDHS.org. Joshua Johnson: Freeman and early American portrait painter”, Maryland Historical Society. 10, October 2007,
<http://www.mdhs.org/kids/joshua.html>.
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1 comment:
I'd never heard of Johnston until now, so I found your article interesting. I wonder how he learned his craft? If he was self-taught, his claims to genius might be warranted as his portraits are quite nice.
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