Жошуа Джонсон: Америкалық суретшінің тарихы мен шығармашылығы

African American artist

Joshua Johnson (c. 1763 – c. noc. 1824 – c. no) was an American painter from the Baltimore, Maryland area of African and European ancestry. Johnson is known for his naïve paintings of prominent Maryland residents.

It was not until 1939 that the identity of the painter of elite 19th century Baltimoreans was discovered by art historian and genealogist J. Hall Pleasants, who believed that one Joshua Johnson painted thirteen portraits. Pleasants attempted to put the puzzle of Johnson's life together; however, questions on Johnson's race, life dates, and even his last name (Johnson or Johnston) remained up until the mid 1990s, when the Maryland Historical Society released newly found manuscripts regarding Johnson's life. Documents dated July 25, 1782, state that Johnson was the "son of a white man and a black slave woman owned by a William Wheeler, Sr." His father, George Johnson (also spelled Johnston in some documents), purchased Joshua, age 19, from William Wheeler, a small Baltimore based farmer, confirmed by a bill of sale dating from October 6, 1764. Wheeler sold Johnson the young man for £25, half the average price of an enslaved male field hand at the time. The documents state little of Joshua's mother, not even her name, and she may have been enslaved by Wheeler, whose own records stated that he enslaved two women, one of whom had two children.

Johnson received his freedom in 1782 and began advertising, identifying himself as a portrait painter and limner as of 1796. He moved frequently, residing often where other artists, specifically chair makers, lived, which suggests that he may have provided extra income for himself by painting chairs. His frequent moving also may indicate that he tended to work for clients near whom he lived. No records mention educational or creative training, and it still has not been proven that he had any relationship with artists such as the Peale family, Ralph Earl, or Ralph Earl Jr.

His work, however, is more similar to lesser known limners who worked during the same time in the mid Atlantic region, such as: John Drinker, Frederick Kemmelmeyer, Jacob Frymire and Caleb Boyle. Johnson may have been more than familiar with the work of these artists than previously thought; in 1818, he was commissioned by patron Rebecca Myring Everette to copy Boyle's 1807 portrait of her husband, Thomas Everett. Johnson's work has also been compared to Ralph Earl, who, like Johnson, also utilized brass upholstery tacks, swagged curtains, and open window vistas in his paintings. However, a stronger comparison lies between Johnson and Earl's son, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl. Both were noted for painting multi figure family group portraits, which were rare during this period of American art. Both are considered prominent self taught "folk" artists, but it can only be theorized whether they ever came into contact within similar circles.

In his painting The Westwood Children (now in the National Gallery of Art), Johnson depicts the male children of Margaret and John Westwood, who was a successful Baltimore stagecoach manufacturer. The painting is stylized and depicts the three children holding flowers in their hands, accompanied by the family dog, which holds a bird in its mouth. The children have chilled, expressionless stares, although the youngest child seems to be on the verge of smiling.