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
MacGibeny, 2021: It is interesting to note that the sitter is wearing eyeglasses in this portrait, unlike the version owned by the Litchfield (Connecticut) Historical Society, in which he is not wearing eyeglasses. Johnson portrayed one other sitter both with and without glasses: Charlotte May Wilkinson.
Left of head is skinned somewhat.
Augustus Schell (1812–1884). Corporate lawyer who became a leading figure on Wall Street. Director and financier for railroad and public utilities companies. First vice president of the New-York Historical Society, 1871 andpPresident, 1872–1884 [Catalogue of the Gallery of Art of the New York Historical Society]. Son of Christian Schell and Elizabeth (Hughes) Schell [New-York Historical Society gallery label]; great-uncle of Emily Coddington Williams, who was “first cousin—once removed" of Johnson [Label on verso of Schell portrait owned by Litchfield Historical Society].
White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.
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