Joshua Johnson (active circa 1795–1825). <em>John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward</em>, ca. 1812–1815. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 39 11/16 in. (76.5 x 100.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 1993.82 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.82_PS22.jpg)

Joshua Johnson (active circa 1795–1825). John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward, ca. 1812–1815. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 39 11/16 in. (76.5 x 100.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 1993.82 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.82_PS22.jpg)

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Yo, why are these eyes so weird?!

Yo, I was just thinking about that the other day! The artist Joshua Johnson was self-taught. He tended to use oval-shaped faces that are more simplified than completely realist shapes. Johnson was influenced by portraits by Charles Willson Peale and the Peale family, for whom he initially may have worked as a servant in Philadelphia.

The very act of commissioning and owning a portrait was often more important to clients of the time than having a completely accurate likeness.

Hello. Why do children in paintings from this time period always look so creepy?

Hi there! That's a great question. At that time many American artists were self-taught since formal art schools and institutions hadn't yet been established in the United States. Rather than journey to Europe, many artists instead looked at prints of famous European paintings. Also, many artists also first worked as decorative sign painters, so they learned to paint large simple shapes with strong outlines.

Joshua Johnson's background is a relative mystery. Some scholars believe he learned painting from the Peales, a famous family of American painters. As an African American working in a very different time, he probably learned a great deal on his own. All these factors may add to the flat and "creepy" look of some faces in his art!

I frequently hear the theory that bodies of children were pre-painted and that the faces were added later. I am dubious. Can you comment?

As far as painting bodies first and adding faces later, that was absolutely a real practice. It was used not just for children, but for adults too. Not all artists worked this way, but it was a method to save time and reduce the length of sitting.

That makes sense. Young children are not likely to sit for portraits for long.

I'm sure you're right. Painting toddlers would be a prime reason to paint a body first and add a face from a quick sketch later.

Thanks for the discussion. I like this format!

John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward

Joshua Johnson

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

Joshua Johnson had a talent for the tender delineation of family ties. Here, each of the young boys extends an arm to their father and rests a pale hand on his sturdy form. Their father’s hand, open in his lap, suggests a gentle accessibility.

Johnson was born into slavery. The son of a white man and an enslaved African American woman, he was freed by his father in 1782. By the end of the eighteenth century, he was a successful portraitist in the racially tolerant environment of Baltimore, where one-fifth of the population was Black and one-quarter of all Black residents were free.

ARTIST Joshua Johnson, active circa 1795–1825

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

DATES ca. 1812–1815

DIMENSIONS 30 1/8 x 39 11/16 in. (76.5 x 100.8 cm) frame: 37 x 46 1/2 x 3 1/8 in. (94 x 118.1 x 7.9 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 1993.82

CREDIT LINE Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Mary Smith Dorward Fund

PROVENANCE Ca. 1812, commissioned from the artist by John Jacob Anderson of Baltimore, MD; ca. 1890, inherited from John Jacob Anderson by Edward Anderson; before 1966, inherited through the Anderson family by Fanny Anderson Hyslop (Mrs. John T. B. Hyslop) and Sarah Young Anderson; 1966, gift of Fanny Anderson Hyslop and Sarah Young Anderson to the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society (now Shore History), Onancock, VA; between 1966 and 1987, provenance not yet documented; before 1987, acquired by Washburn Galleries, New York, NY; by 1987, acquired by Kathryn and Robert Steinberg of New York; between 1987 and 1993, provenance not yet documented; by June 1993, acquired by James Graham & Sons, New York; June 21, 1993, purchased from James Graham & Sons by the Brooklyn Museum.

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EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

CAPTION Joshua Johnson (active circa 1795–1825). John Jacob Anderson and Sons, John and Edward, ca. 1812–1815. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 39 11/16 in. (76.5 x 100.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 1993.82 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.82_PS22.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 1993.82_PS22.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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