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
Spencer Trask (1844–1909). Banker, owner of the New York Times [Frick Art Reference Library]. Manager of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1905–1912. “For the next twelve years, he organized several international art exhibitions, including the Panama-Pacific Exposition, the San Diego Exposition, and the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial. In 1924, he became director of the Milwaukee Art Institute, a position he held until his death…” [footnote of Erica Hirshler publication]. Husband of Katrina Trask, with whom he founded the artists’ retreat Yaddo; father of Spencer, Jr. and Christina. All were portrayed by Johnson.
White, Terry James. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967–.
- Portrait pose:
- Portrait sitter families: