Joshua Johnston

Joshua Johnston, also know as Joshua Johnson, was a portraitist active in Baltimore, Maryland between 1790 and 1825. He was one the first African American artist to gain recognition. He was primarily a painter of members of the slave-holding aristocracy, and soon after he was rediscovered by Baltimore and art historian J. Hall Pleasants in 1939. He was light skin and could mistakenly be recognize as white. The reason why I choose him because recently to a class were I learned to draw the human body. At first it was difficult but later on it became more of a understanding. Looking through his paintings at the time it seemed as if his images where really flat looking and not really 3D like. He also uses a smooth warm tone to his paintings. In all of Johnston's portraits, the poses are similar. The figures have expressionless, pudgy hands and are holding an object. Since the same things appear in different paintings, they were likely props owned and used by the artist. In fact, two different members of the Bankson family are pictured wearing the same earrings. But overall i like his paintings and the color tones.

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/johnston-joshua-c-1763-1832