Joshua Johnson
In the Garden
1799-1809
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Framed: 33 x 24 7/8 x 3 3/8 in. (83.8 x 63.2 x 8.6 cm) Sight: 27 1/2 x 19 3/8 in. (69.9 x 49.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, New York
Object Number
1967.76.1
Joshua Johnson numbers among the first recognized African-American painters. He enjoyed steady patronage at various local addresses listed by Baltimore City Directories from 1798 until 1824. Particularly gifted at painting young children, Johnson here captures a little girl of three, wearing a white dress, a coral necklace, and the signature red shoes that often appear in his work. The large, rather sinister moth in the painting resembles a Death’s-head Hawkmoth, raising the possibility that this is a posthumous portrait. The painting retains its original simply carved and lemon-gilt frame.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1967; Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, New York, by purchase, 1959; Herbert Schiffer; found in Pennsylvania
American Federation of Arts, New York, "101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch," 1961-1964, pp. 135, 144, no. 35, ill. pl. 35.
City University of New York, "The Evolution of Afro-American Artists: 1800-1950," Oct. 9-Nov. 8, 1967m o, 57
BMA, "American Naive Paitings, Pastels and Calligraphy of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Feb 27-Apr. 15, 1973
Regina A. Perry, MMA, New York, "Selections of Nineteenth-Century Afro-American Art," June 19-Aug. 1, 1976, n.p.
BMA, "American Folk Art from The Baltimore Museum of Art and Local Collections," Apr. 4-June 18, 1978, p. 4, no. 9
Carolyn J. Weekly and Stiles T. Colwill, Maryland Historical Society, "Joshua Johnson: Freeman and Early American Painter," September 1-December 31, 1987, p. 115, ill. p. 114, no. 17; circulated to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Gallery, Williamsburg, Virginia and the Whitney Museum, New York through August 25, 1988.
Washington County Museum of Fine Art. "Joshua Johnson: Portraitist of Early American Baltimore" Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History circulated to Washington County Museum of Fine Art, April 11, 2021 - January 2022.
Below (This was in the record, but not sure if it applies to this particular Johnston painting. See 1944.6):
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., "The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770-1800,"; Morgan State University, January 11-March 26, 1976 (one venue only)
City University of New York, "The Evolution of Afro-American Artists: 1800-1950," Oct. 9-Nov. 8, 1967m o, 57
BMA, "American Naive Paitings, Pastels and Calligraphy of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Feb 27-Apr. 15, 1973
Regina A. Perry, MMA, New York, "Selections of Nineteenth-Century Afro-American Art," June 19-Aug. 1, 1976, n.p.
BMA, "American Folk Art from The Baltimore Museum of Art and Local Collections," Apr. 4-June 18, 1978, p. 4, no. 9
Carolyn J. Weekly and Stiles T. Colwill, Maryland Historical Society, "Joshua Johnson: Freeman and Early American Painter," September 1-December 31, 1987, p. 115, ill. p. 114, no. 17; circulated to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Gallery, Williamsburg, Virginia and the Whitney Museum, New York through August 25, 1988.
Washington County Museum of Fine Art. "Joshua Johnson: Portraitist of Early American Baltimore" Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History circulated to Washington County Museum of Fine Art, April 11, 2021 - January 2022.
Below (This was in the record, but not sure if it applies to this particular Johnston painting. See 1944.6):
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., "The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770-1800,"; Morgan State University, January 11-March 26, 1976 (one venue only)
BMA, "250 Years of Painting in Maryland," 1945, no. 66, p. 34. The Peale Museum, Baltimore, 1948.
Art Institute of Chicago, "From Colony to Nation," April-June 1949, no. 76, p. 53.
BMA, "Behold the Child," November 7-December 3, 1950, p. 12.
American Federation of Arts, New York, "101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting," 1961, no. 34, ill. pl. 35.
Peridot Gallery, New York, "Portraits of J. Johnston," October 5-30, 1971, no. 1, ill.
BMA, "American Primitive Paintings, Pastels & Calligraphy of the 18th & 19th centuries," February 27-April 15, 1973.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Selections of 19th Century Afro-America Art," June 19-August 1, 1976, (unpaginated).
Carolyn J. Weekly, 'Joshua Johnson,' "Antiques Magazine," September 1987, vol. cxxxii, p. 537.
Sona K. Johnston, "American Painting 1750-1900 from the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 1983, p. 94.
Benskin, Elizabeth, and Suzy Wolffe. Teacher's Guide to the American Collection. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014, pages 10 and 18.
Inscribed: None
On View at the BMA
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