Catalogue Entry
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
William Rhinelander Stewart, Grace Church in Old New York, 1989: "…painted in his Episcopal robes from life…"
Henry Codman Potter (1834–1908). “...Protestant Episcopal clergyman…born in Schenectady, New York. After graduating from the Virginia Theological Seminary he held pastorates in Troy, New York (1859–1866), at Trinity Church, Boston (1866–1868), and at Grace Church, New York (1868–1883). As bishop of New York (1887–1908) he was a major figure in the campaign against corruption in the city, and he carried on the building of the cathedral of St. John the Divine, having laid the cornerstone in 1892” [New-York Historical Society gallery label]. Potter was also one of the founders of the Century Association. Brother of Eliphalet Nott Potter, also portrayed by Johnson.
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