When Johnson returned to the United States, he not only painted genre paintings but he also continued to paint portraits, which gave him a steady income. After 1880 Johnson turned to portraiture almost exclusively. During the 1880s and 1890s he painted businessmen, lawyers, university presidents, and three U.S. presidents from life. At times he also painted their wives and children.
He was also commissioned to paint posthumous portraits, often from photographs. These portraits by and large do not have the sparkle and active brushwork of those done from life. It seems that the demand for portraits of business and civic leaders (and members of exclusive men’s clubs) was so high that portrait painters would often make copies of each other’s paintings to satisfy the market for such images. In many instances, it has been difficult to render opinions for such paintings. —PH
MacGibeny, 2021: According to correspondence in the archives of Villa Louis, this portrait was commissioned by H. Louis Dousman's wife, Nina Linn Sturgis Dousman, after her husband's death. Johnson painted it from a photograph of Dousman taken by Napoleon Sarony in 1880. Hamilton Busbey, an acquaintance of Dousman, went to see the portrait in Johnson's studio in March 1888 and reported to Mrs. Dousman: "The artist has closely followed the photograph, and in doing so, I think, has left out lines of character. Photographs seldom reflect the strong features. Mr. Johnson, however, had no other guide than the photograph. The pose of his picture is admirable and the color good."
Hercules Louis Dousman II (1848–1886). Better known as Louis Dousman. Fur trader, lumberman, speculator, socialite and art collector. Born in Wisconsin; later lived in Minnesota and Missouri. His estate, Villa Louis, is operated as a museum by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
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