Background

Joshua Johnson was born circa 1963 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. According to Baltimore County court chattel records, Johnston was the son of a white man, George Johnston, and an unknown enslaved black woman owned by William Wheeler Sr., a small Baltimore-based farmer, confirmed by a bill of sale dating from October 6, 1764.

Education

Joshua Johnson was a self-taught painter.

Career

Joshua Johnson received his freedom in 1782, he was listed as a portrait painter or limner in Baltimore city directories, beginning in 1796, through 1824. He moved often, living mainly in the section of Baltimore where makers of painted chairs resided, suggesting that he may have supplemented his income by decorating furniture.

Of the thirteen existent paintings identified as his, many are of white children belonging to wealthy local families. He also painted black subjects, including Daniel Coker, a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His works have a two dimensionality and the facial features are frequently vacant and staring. The backgrounds are notable for their detailed depictions of furniture or other props. Johnston’s work has often been associated with Baltimore artists Charles Willson Peale, Charles Peale Polk, and Rembrandt Peale and he was assumed to have been apprenticed to or enslaved by the family but there is no evidence of this connection.

According to the Baltimore city directory of 1817-1818 he was listed in the section "Free Householders of Colour"; in 1825 he had moved to Frederick County, Maryland, and two years later moved to Anne Arundel County, again, following the paths of those whose portraits he painted. Little is known of his life after this final move, and his death.

Achievements

• Joshua Johnson became known for his paintings of prominent Maryland residents. His most famous and charming, portraits are full-length portrayals of young children in detailed settings. The majority are single figures at half or bust-length, portraying working and middle-class Baltimoreans.
  
  Several works by the artist have been sold at auction, including 'Mr. and Mrs. Hilmer Schumacher' sold at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Chicago 'American & European Art' in 2014 for $52,500.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Sarah Ogden Gustin

    1805

  • Portrait of Mrs. Barbara Baker Murphy

    1810

  • Letitia Grace McCurdy

    1802

  • Grace Allison McCurdy and Her Daughters

    1804

  • Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman

  • Portrait of Isabella Taylor

    1805

  • The Westwood Children

    1807

  • Mr. and Mrs. Hilmer Schumacher

  • Mrs. Abraham White, Jr. and Daughter Rose

    1809

  • Woman and Baby Wearing Green Gloves

    1810

  • Portrait of Sea Captain John Murphy

    1810

  • BENJAMIN FRANKLIN YOE AND SON

    1810

  • Family Group

    1800

  • Mrs. John Moale (Ellin North) and Ellin North Moale

    1800

  • Edward and Sarah Rutter

    1805

  • Portrait of Adelia Ellender

  • Portrait of an African American Man

    1820

  • Young Lady on a Red Sofa

    1810

  • Mr. Baylor

    1805

  • John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward

    1815

  • PORTRAIT OF ELISHA STANSBURY

  • Adelina Morton

    1810

  • Girl Wearing a Bonnet

    1810

Personality

Physical Characteristics: Joshua Johnson was light-skinned and was easily mistaken for White.

Connections

Registers of St. Peter's Roman Catholic church in Baltimore likely refer to the artist, and indicate that in 1785 he married his first wife, Sarah. They had three children: two sons and a daughter. Their names George, John, and Sarah, are recorded in Catholic church records in Baltimore. By 1803 he was married to a woman named Clara.

Father:

George Johnson

Spouse:

Clara Johnson

Spouse:

Sarah Johnson

Son:

George Johnson

Son:

John Johnson

Daughter:

Sarah Johnson

References

• The Afro-American Artist: A Search for Identity
• A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present