Portrait of Edward Aisquith
Joshua Johnson, American (active Baltimore), born c. 1762
Geography:
Made in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
Date:
c. 1810Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
22 1/2 x 18 3/8 inches (57.2 x 46.7 cm)Curatorial Department:
American ArtObject Location:
2001-11-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with funds contributed by Dr. Benjamin F. Hammond, the Edith H. Bell Fund, and with funds contributed in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Museum and in celebration of African American art, 2001
Made in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
Date:
c. 1810Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
22 1/2 x 18 3/8 inches (57.2 x 46.7 cm)Curatorial Department:
American ArtObject Location:
Currently not on view
Accession Number:2001-11-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Purchased with funds contributed by Dr. Benjamin F. Hammond, the Edith H. Bell Fund, and with funds contributed in honor of the 125th Anniversary of the Museum and in celebration of African American art, 2001
Social Tags [?]
african american [x] african american art [x] african american artist [x] black art [x] hands [x] man [x] nhd 1783 to 1815 portrait [x] relaxed [x] sideburns [x] suit [x]The earliest documented professional African American artist, Joshua Johnson (whose last name sometimes appears as Johnston) worked as a portrait painter in Baltimore, where he produced more than eighty known works between 1795 and 1825. He may have begun life as a slave, but Johnson was certainly a free man by 1795, when he advertised himself as a self-taught "genius" in the Baltimore Intelligencer. This is the first work by the artist to enter the Museum's collection.