Joseph Blackburn

England

Joseph Blackburn left almost no record of himself. He was resident at Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and perhaps elsewhere in the colonies. His paintings were usually signed "I (or J) Blackburn" with the date appended. Several writers said that the artist signed himself "J. B. Blackburn. " Examination of more than eighty canvases attributed to Blackburn has disclosed no such signature. One signature "Jos Blackburn" has been found. William Dunlap, in his History of the Arts of Design in the United States (1834), wrote: "All we know is that he was nearly contemporary with Smibert, and painted very respectable portraits in Boston. " Augustus T. Perkins, contributing to Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1878) his list of portraits attributed to Blackburn, admitted that his own, and others', investigations had not shown whence Jonathan B. Blackburn came and where he went on leaving Boston. Perkins conjectured that Blackburn taught Copley and that chagrined by his pupil's superiority he went away. Neither of these assumptions is probable. In Art and Artists in Connecticut (1879) French stated that Christopher B. Blackburn, an itinerant painter and jack-of-all-trades who worked in several towns, had a son, J. B. , possibly born in Wethersfield, probably about the year 1700. This conjecture has frequently, and uncritically, been reprinted as if it were fact. Frank W. Bayley (1917) noted in a Portsmouth newspaper the name of Joseph Blackburn as that of one for whom posted letters were held. The same name was found in a Boston list. Following this clew Lawrence Park examined Blackburn signatures and in 1918 discovered at Brooklyn a portrait signed "Jos Blackburn 1755. " Soon after this John Hill Morgan came upon a receipted bill for the Mrs. Nathaniel Barrell portrait signed by Joseph Blackburn at Portsmouth, 12 July, 1762. These discoveries were published in the Boston Sunday Herald, in September 1919, and subsequently in several other publications. Research since 1919 has revealed few additional data concerning Blackburn. His name, as "Mr. Blackburn, " occurs in two letters written, 1757, by Mrs. Richard Russell and now at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. The three Tucker family portraits, owned in Baltimore, appear to have been painted at Bermuda, 1753, indicating that Blackburn may have come thence to America. No Blackburn portrait dated later than 1763 has been found. Mr. Morgan reasonably conjectures that the painter went to Jamaica with his sitter, Sir Alexander Grant, who in 1764 became governor of that colony. Blackburn evidently came to America with a well-formed style, painted industriously among wealthy colonial families and, apparently, had no purpose to remain. His manner somewhat resembles that of the English painters Thomas Hudson and Joseph Highmore. No record of his British connections has been disclosed. One writer has assumed, without supporting evidence, that he traveled under an assumed name. As a painter Blackburn had admirable feeling for graceful gesture and sumptuous textures. He was perhaps inferior as an artist to Robert Feke, but was a better draftsman than Smibert or Badger.

Joseph Blackburn

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also known as Jonathan Blackburn

painter

Background

Joseph Blackburn was born about 1700 in England, the son of a painter.

Career

Joseph Blackburn left almost no record of himself. He was resident at Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and perhaps elsewhere in the colonies. His paintings were usually signed "I (or J) Blackburn" with the date appended. Several writers said that the artist signed himself "J. B. Blackburn. " Examination of more than eighty canvases attributed to Blackburn has disclosed no such signature. One signature "Jos Blackburn" has been found. William Dunlap, in his History of the Arts of Design in the United States (1834), wrote: "All we know is that he was nearly contemporary with Smibert, and painted very respectable portraits in Boston. " Augustus T. Perkins, contributing to Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1878) his list of portraits attributed to Blackburn, admitted that his own, and others', investigations had not shown whence Jonathan B. Blackburn came and where he went on leaving Boston. Perkins conjectured that Blackburn taught Copley and that chagrined by his pupil's superiority he went away. Neither of these assumptions is probable.

In Art and Artists in Connecticut (1879) French stated that Christopher B. Blackburn, an itinerant painter and jack-of-all-trades who worked in several towns, had a son, J. B. , possibly born in Wethersfield, probably about the year 1700. This conjecture has frequently, and uncritically, been reprinted as if it were fact. Frank W. Bayley (1917) noted in a Portsmouth newspaper the name of Joseph Blackburn as that of one for whom posted letters were held. The same name was found in a Boston list. Following this clew Lawrence Park examined Blackburn signatures and in 1918 discovered at Brooklyn a portrait signed "Jos Blackburn 1755. " Soon after this John Hill Morgan came upon a receipted bill for the Mrs. Nathaniel Barrell portrait signed by Joseph Blackburn at Portsmouth, 12 July, 1762. These discoveries were published in the Boston Sunday Herald, in September 1919, and subsequently in several other publications.

Research since 1919 has revealed few additional data concerning Blackburn. His name, as "Mr. Blackburn, " occurs in two letters written, 1757, by Mrs. Richard Russell and now at the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. The three Tucker family portraits, owned in Baltimore, appear to have been painted at Bermuda, 1753, indicating that Blackburn may have come thence to America. No Blackburn portrait dated later than 1763 has been found. Mr. Morgan reasonably conjectures that the painter went to Jamaica with his sitter, Sir Alexander Grant, who in 1764 became governor of that colony. Blackburn evidently came to America with a well-formed style, painted industriously among wealthy colonial families and, apparently, had no purpose to remain.

His manner somewhat resembles that of the English painters Thomas Hudson and Joseph Highmore. No record of his British connections has been disclosed. One writer has assumed, without supporting evidence, that he traveled under an assumed name. As a painter Blackburn had admirable feeling for graceful gesture and sumptuous textures. He was perhaps inferior as an artist to Robert Feke, but was a better draftsman than Smibert or Badger.

Achievements

Joseph Blackburn was an outstanding portrait painter of his time which works are represented today in art museums and private collections. Among notable portraits attributed to him are those of Jeffery Amherst, Theodore Atkinson, Sr. , Theodore Atkinson, Jr. , Joshua Babcock, Mrs. Joshua Babcock, Mrs. Nathaniel Barrell, Mrs. John Bours, Rev. Peter Bours, Mrs. Thomas Bulfinch, Mrs. Wiseman Claggett, Mary Holyoke Cutts, Samuel Cutts, Mrs. Thomas Deering, Mary Faneuil, Mary Brown Greenleaf, Mrs. Thomas Hancock, Daniel Henchman, William B. Johnson, Lady Pepperell and Sister, James Otis, Joshua Warner, Joshua Winslow.

Connections

Blackburn was married to Mary Blackburn and had two daughters, Henrietta and Elizabet.

Spouse:: Mary Blackburn
Daughter:: Elizabet Blackburn
Daughter:: Henrietta Blackburn

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Joseph Blackburn

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