Reportedly America's first professional black artist that was a free man, Joshua Johnson, whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, was originally from the West Indies and then came to the... Read full biography
Reportedly America's first professional black artist that was a free man, Joshua Johnson, whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, was originally from the West Indies and then came to the American South. He was an itinerant portrait painter among wealthy plantation owners in Maryland and... Read full biography
Reportedly America's first professional black artist that was a free man, Joshua Johnson, whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, was originally from the West Indies and then came to the American South. He was an itinerant portrait painter among wealthy plantation owners in Maryland and Virginia, and his style was derived from the conventional English portrait style of bust-length poses and arranged backdrops. His portrait figures are stiff, prim and flat in appearance, and quite... Read full biography
Reportedly America's first professional black artist that was a free man, Joshua Johnson, whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, was originally from the West Indies and then came to the American South. He was an itinerant portrait painter among wealthy plantation owners in Maryland and Virginia, and his style was derived from the conventional English portrait style of bust-length poses and arranged backdrops. His portrait figures are stiff, prim and flat in appearance, and quite often have a dog posed on the lap of the sitter. He was the first known African-American professional portrait painter to work in the United States. According to his advertisement in the Baltimore Intelligencer, December 19, 1798, he was a "self-taught... Read full biography
Reportedly America's first professional black artist that was a free man, Joshua Johnson, whose name is written both as Johnson and Johnston, was originally from the West Indies and then came to the American South. He was an itinerant portrait painter among wealthy plantation owners in Maryland and Virginia, and his style was derived from the conventional English portrait style of bust-length poses and arranged backdrops. His portrait figures are stiff, prim and flat in appearance, and quite often have a dog posed on the lap of the sitter. He was the first known African-American professional portrait painter to work in the United States. According to his advertisement in the Baltimore Intelligencer, December 19, 1798, he was a "self-taught genius." . He was listed in the Baltimore directory as a portrait painter, 1796 to 1824, and after... Read full biography
Joshua (Johnston) Johnson - Artist Info
About Joshua (Johnston) Johnson: Books
Books & Publications (56)
Publications based on askART research. List may not be comprehensive.
The Artists Bluebook 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
2005
AskART.com Inc. - Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor)
479 pages
Masterworks of American Painting at the De Young (De Young Museum)
2005
Burgard, Timothy Anglin; Daniell Cornell
573 pages (color)
Davenport's Art Reference: The Gold Edition
2005
Davenport, Ray
2,421 pages
Early Art and Artists in West Virginia
2000
Cuthbert, John A.
301 pages (color)
Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: Three Volumes
1999
Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor)
3,724 pages
Accents on Artists A fact-filled pronunciation guide. Over 800 artist’s names you should know…
1996
Barbara and Peter Toohil
363 pages (color)
American Paintings/Metropolitan Mus V 1, Artists Born by 1815
1994
Caldwell, John/Oswaldo Roque
628 pages
American Art History and Culture
1994
Craven, Wayne
687 pages (color)
African American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1994
San Antonio Museum of Art
67 pages (color)
A History-African-American Artists From 1792 to the Present
1993
Bearden, Romare/Harry Henderson
542 pages (color)
Emergence of the African-American Artist/Robert S Duncanson 1821-1872
1993
Ketner, Joseph D
233 pages (color)
Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National Museum of American Art
1993
Perry, Regina A
203 pages (color)
American Naive Paintings (National Gallery Collection) (Exhibition catalog)
1992
Chotner, Deborah
668 pages (color)
Facing the Past 19th Century Portraits from Pennsylvania Academy
1992
Danly, Susan
104 pages (color)
American Paintings An Illustrated Catalogue (Exhibition catalog)
1992
National Gallery of Art
545 pages
Art Across America: New England, New York, Mid-Atlantic (Volume One)
1990
Gerdts, William H
421 pages (color)
Facing History The Black Image in American Art 1710-1940 (Exhibition catalog)
1990
McElroy, Guy C
190 pages (color)
American Masterpieces (revised) from the National Gallery of Art
1988
Wilmerding, John
208 pages (color)
Joshua Johnson (Johnston) Freeman and Early American Portrait Painter (Exhibition catalog)
1987
Weekley, Carolyn J (others)
173 pages (color)
300 Years of American Art (two volumes)
1986
Zellman, Michael David
1,102 pages (color)
Sharing Traditions Five Black Artists in 19th Century America (Exhibition catalog)
1985
Hartigan, Lynda R
120 pages (color)
Maryland: 350 Years of Art & Architecture (University of Maryland Architecture Department Art Gallery (Exhibition catalog)
1984
Johns, Elizabeth; William Elder III, Josephine Withers, et all
248 pages
National Gallery of Art, Washington New and Revised Edition (Exhibition catalog)
1984
Walker, John
606 pages (color)
American Painting 1750-1900 from the Baltimore Museum of Art
1983
Johnston, Sona K
187 pages (color)
The Art of the Old South: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and the Products of Craftsmen
1983
Poesch, Jessie
384 pages (color)
Painting in the South: 1564-1980 (Exhibition catalog)
1983
Virginia Museum, Richmond
362 pages (color)
Lines of Different Character Americn Art from 1727 to 1947 (Exhibition catalog)
1982
Hirschl & Adler Galleries
106 pages (color)
American Art in the Newark Museum Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
1981
Newark Museum
431 pages (color)
The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art
1981
Rugoff, Milton
669 pages (color)
American Folk Portraits from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center
1981
Rumford, Beatrix
295 pages (color)
Charles Peale Polk A Limner and His Likenesses (Exhibition catalog)
1981
Simmons, Linda Crocker
92 pages
American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art
1980
Wilmerding, John
180 pages (color)
Dictionary of American Art
1979
Baigell, Mathew
390 pages
Folk Painters of America
1979
Bishop, Robert
255 pages (color)
Arts in America/A Bibliography Volume 2 (Painting and Graphics)
1979
Karpel, Bernard/Ruth Spiegel
736 pages
Art: African American
1978
Lewis, Samella
246 pages (color)
Art & Ethnics Background for Teaching Youth in a Pluralistic Society
1977
Grigsby, Eugene Jr.
147 pages
Three Hundred Years of American Art In The Chrysler Museum (Exhibition catalog)
1976
Anderson, Dennis R (Introductory Essay)
270 pages (color)
Two Centuries of Black American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1976
Driskell, David C
221 pages (color)
Where Liberty Dwells 19th Century Art by the American People (Exhibition catalog)
1976
Tillou, Peter
114 pages (color)
A Bicentennial Treasury American Masterpieces from the Metropolitan
1976
Tracy, Berry and Howat, John
82 pages (color)
Amistad II Afro-American Art (Exhibition catalog)
1975
Driskell, David C
92 pages
American Folk Painters
1975
Ebert, John and Katherine
225 pages (color)
The Gift of American Naive Painting 48 Masterpieces, W Chrysler Garbisch Collection
1975
Schaeffer, Clifford W
68 pages
Catalogue of American Paintings in British Public Collections
1974
Gidley, Mick
58 pages
Afro-American Artists: A Bio-Bibliographical Directory
1973
Cederholm, Theresa Dickason
348 pages
The Afro-American Artist A Search for Identity
1973
Fine, Elsa Honig
310 pages (color)
Six Black Masters of American Art
1972
Bearden, Romare/H Henderson
120 pages (color)
Art and Life in America Revised and Enlarged Edition
1966
Larkin, Oliver W
559 pages (color)
101 Masterpieces of Primitive American Painting (Exhibition catalog)
1961
Rorimer, James/JohnWalker
159 pages (color)
American Negro Art
1960
Dover, Cedric
186 pages (color)
American Painting History and Interpretation
1950
Barker, Virgil
715 pages
From Colony to Nation (Exhibition US works to War of 1812) (Exhibition catalog)
1949
Art Institute of Chicago
140 pages
Two Hundred and Fifty Years (of) Painting in Maryland (Exhibition catalog)