Catalogue Entry
Johnson finished his formal schooling at fifteen and worked in a dry goods store where he began making drawings. Responding to his talent, his father sent him to work in a lithography shop in Boston, probably Bufford’s. Several figure and landscape sketches survive from the early 1840s which indicate the ways he was exploring the human figure and the landscape about him using graphite pencil. More importantly, he began to excel as a portrait draughtsman in these early years; see Themes 43.1–.9, U.S. Early Portrait Drawings.
Johnson's reason for his sojourn in Düsseldorf and The Hague, 1849–1855, was to learn to paint with oil (see Themes 1.0–5.0). To achieve that goal, he studied anatomy while still making graphite sketches of interiors, landscapes, and figures from life. Among his best composed sketches were those done on trips to the Dutch countryside, especially those done at Dongen, the Netherlands. —PH
MacGibeny, 2022: According to the Lexikon der Düsseldorfer Malerschule [Lexicon of the Düsseldorf School of Painting], 1998, provided by Kathrin DuBois, Acting Head of the Gallery of Paintings at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Johnson enrolled formally in only one class as a student at the Düsseldorf Academy: Anatomy and Proportion with Professor Heinrich Mücke, winter 1849–1850. This sketchbook contains his precise sketches and notations, including ideal proportions for the human body, that indicate a new level of sophistication in his drawing. Johnson also made a sketch of Professor Mücke (1806-1891), who was a painter, draftsman, and printmaker of religious and genre scenes.
Brooklyn Museum website, accessed November 1, 2021: "Sketchbook of 21 leaves bound between cardboard covers lined with dark brown marbled paper. Contains the following anatomical sketches: Inside front cover: sketch of man's head. Page 1: gridded studies of skull and top and profile view of bones of foot. Page 2: color notations, including "light blues", "light yellow", "dark", "dark bluish", "blue", "[illegible] / dark cool". Page 3: sketch of skull. Pages 5, 7, & 9: studies of torso of skeleton. Page 11: studies of arm bones. Pages 13 & 15: studies of leg bone. Pages 18–19: gridded outlines of male body (profile, rear, & frontal views). Page 21: several vertical grid lines (no other drawing). Page 23: gridded outline of male body. Page 25: gridded outline of female body (front and rear views). Page 26: short list of measurements in upper right. Page 27–28: page missing (cut out). Page 29: inscription at top of page, "Venus of Milo 66 inches high -- From the [facis?] to line D 15 1/2 in. … " [long list of proportional measurements]. Remaining pages blank."
Front inside cover: sketch of Dante?
P p. 1 Skulls and feet
p. 2 Color notes
P p. 3 Skull facing left
p. 4 ---
P p. 5 Backbone, side and front views
p. 6 ---
p. 7 Rib cage
p. 8 ---
p. 9 Rib cage oval
p. 10 ---
p. 11 --- Arm bones
p. 12 ---
p. 13 Leg bones
p. 14 ---
p. 15 Leg bones
p. 16
p. 17
p. 18 Man, side and back
p. 19 Man, arm extended
p. 20 ---
p. 21 Lines
p. 22 ---
p. 23 Youth, front and back
p. 24 ---
p. 25 Female, front and back; notes on proportions
p. 26 ---
p. 27 and 28 missing
p. 29 Proportions on Venus de Milo, 66 in. high
pp. 30-44 blank
Back inside cover blank