David Johnson was a successful landscape painter of the Hudson River School. His fine draftsmanship and rich colors portrayed picturesque scenes of upper New York State and New England. He was born in New York City in 1827. Although he spent most of his professional life there, his frequent journeys to the Hudson River Valley (particularly the Fort Putnam and West Point areas) and New England inspired some of his best landscapes.

Johnson studied the great European landscape artists and had a few lessons from American landscapist Jasper F. Cropsey. He said that his greatest teacher, however, was nature, and his intense realism and richly painted rocks and trees attest to this.

He first exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the American Art Union in 1849, and was made a member of the National Academy in 1861. At the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, Johnson exhibited "Scenery on the Housatonic" and "A Brook Study, Orange County, New York" (dates and locations unknown) and received an award. His View of the Adroscoggin River, Maine (1869-1870, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) demonstrates his exceptional ability with detail and color. His best work can be compared with that of John F. Kensett, but in later years Johnson's skills declined. Influenced by the Barbizon style, his work became monotonous and less articulate.

Johnson died in 1908 at Walden, New York. His landscapes and several fine still lifes are not well known, but his work is beginning to find new attention and appreciation.

Memberships:
Artists' Fund Society
National Academy of Design

Public Collections:
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton

David Johnson was one of the last surviving artists of the Hudson River School. He studied at the Antique School of the National Academy of Design in the 1840s. Johnson was based in NYC but made many sketching trips throughout New England and Upstate New York. He used rich colors in picturesque scenes. His intense Realism with rocks and trees are executed with beautiful accuracy. Johnson first exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1849. He was later made a member of the National Academy in 1861. Johnson's later work was influenced by the Barbizon School and became monotonous and less accurate. Currently, Johnson's work is beginning to find new appreciation.

Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell

David Johnson was a prominent member of the Hudson River School's second generation. Endowed with a rare ability to paint both the details and the whole plan of nature, Johnson created refined, richly-detailed landscapes. Born in New York City, he studied briefly under Jasper Francis Cropsey and was closely associated with a circle of artists including John Frederick Kensett, Asher B. Durand, John William Casilear, and Benjamin Champney. He helped found the Artist Fund Society in 1859 and was elected an academician by the National Academy of Design in 1861. His works hang in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid.

Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art, LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal