CC0 · no rights reserved
Portrait of Sea Captain John Murphy
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Joshua Johnson, a self-trained artist and former slave, is the earliest documented professional African American painter. His sitters were Captain John Murphy and his wife, Irish immigrants who lived in Baltimore, where Johnson painted many merchants, seamen, and their families. In these portraits--intended to hang side-by-side--the artist delighted in fine details, from the captain's artfully arranged curls to his wife's sheer lace collar.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionCredit linePortrait of Sea Captain John Murphy. ca. 1810. Joshua Johnson, born Baltimore County, MD ca.1763-died Anne Arundel County, MD ca. 1825. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Leonard and Paula Granoff. CC0.
