Unidentified Man by Joshua Johnson

Joshua Johnson was one of the first professional African-American artists. The artist was a Freeman, or freed slave, who may have earned his freedom through the sale of his art. The names "Joshua Johnston" or "Johnston” appear in Baltimore directories from 1796-1824, where he is identified as a "portrait painter." Little is known conclusively about Johnson since according to Census records he moved frequently throughout Baltimore. Scholar J. Hall Pleasants surmises that Johnson was probably once a slave, or a house servant of a portrait painter.

Johnson's style contrasts with that of his contemporary Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828.) Unlike Stuart’s facile painterly style, artists like Johnson worked in a “limner” tradition – a hard, linear, and two dimensional painting technique which may have appealed to their middle-class patrons more that Stuart’s grand-manner style and showy brushwork. The backgrounds of his compositions are often somber, whereas Stuart’s often depict prevailing high-style interiors. Johnson’s subjects' faces are shown in three-quarter view, their eyes directed upward and their mouths drawn together tightly with a slight smile. His subjects often hold objects, as in this case, and often sit in chairs studded with brass tacks on upholstered settees or Sheraton style chairs.