Joshua Johnson, Painter

The Peales

The final hypothesis that Pleasants puts forth, and many authors take as a strong possibility, is the connection between Joshua Johnson and Charles Willson Peale. Pleasants states that Peale, Charles Peale Polk, and Rembrandt Peale were all working in Baltimore in the early 1790s and could have been an influence.[6] This argument is pursued further on stylistic merits with a comparison of Johnson’s style and Polks. On page 16 Pleasants states:

Many of the mannerisms of Polk were employed. Polk’s hands very often have a peculiar pudgy appearance; this is also true of Joshua. Polk applied his paint sparingly, so did Joshua. […] Polk, much more than any other local painter of this period, reveled in accessories; Johnston not only used accessories freely, but employed several of those of which Polk was especially fond.

This claim is debated by many of the authors, and eventually discredited since the manumission papers do not link Johnson to the Peales as a slave or apprentice. This being the case, many authors agree that even if Johnson didn’t work with the Peales directly he would have been exposed to their artwork in Baltimore, especially since Raphealle Peale’s Museum (The Peale Museum) was established a block from Johnson’s home in 1798.[7] It is common for authors to mention the Peales when talking about Johnson and even though no conclusive evidence of a teacher / student relationship exists, most authors think that Johnson would have at least seen the Peales and Polk’s work.
 

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