Johnson went to Europe in 1849 to learn techniques for creating figure paintings in oil. However, he had been a professional portrait draughtsman in Boston and Washington, D.C. for at least five years before that. In those early drawings he had a keen sense of creating heads using light tones and shadowed areas to create a strong three-dimensional effect. Studying the works of Rembrandt at The Hague inspired him to use the same techniques for his oil portraits. —PH
Detroit Institute of Arts object record, date unknown: "Half-length portrait of a man with a beard and moustache dressed in black. The body is turned but the face is frontal. His right hand rests on his hip. The background is dark."
Thomas Worthington Whittredge (1820–1910). American landscape painter and friend of Johnson. Studied at the Düsseldorf Academy, 1849–1854, and remained in Europe until 1859. Posed for both George Washington and the steersman in Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware.
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