Johnson did few landscapes. Of those he did, he seems never to have sent them out on exhibition. The first landscapes were done early on in his European sojourn. Upon returning to the United States he painted a few landscape scenes around Mount Vernon and also views of the settlements around Lake Superior where he traveled in 1856. Later, in the 1860s, he made intimate views on his trips into nature, probably done with men friends in the summers. The few that exist show sunlight falling on paths that lead through woodland trees or suggest a haze on quiet lakes. None of them are dramatic views of mountains or rivers. —PH
MacGibeny, 2021: Both inscriptions (lower left and lower right) are present in the c. 1940 image of this painting. Note the discrepancy with the 1907 Estate Sale catalogue, which records only one inscription at lower left. It is possible that the lower right inscription was added after the 1907 Estate Sale.
The phrase "when woods were green" appears in the opening line of Longfellow's poem "Voices of the Night," 1839:
"Pleasant it was, when woods were green
And winds were soft and low…"
"Signed at the lower left, E. J.
Height, 15 ½ inches; length, 19 ½ inches."
[Annotation: “35.00 / Cogswell”]