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Sketchbook, Conway, New Hampshire

David Johnson

American Art

A landscape painter who devoted himself to the careful study of nature, Johnson traveled throughout the Northeast collecting sketches that he would then use to create highly detailed paintings in his studio. Some of his haunts included the Catskill and Adirondack mountains in New York and the White Mountains in New Hampshire, where this sketch was made.
MEDIUM Graphite, chalk, and opaque watercolor on medium-weight, beige, wove paper, sketchbook
DATES July–October 1851
DIMENSIONS sketchbook: 4 7/8 x 6 3/4 x 5/16 in. (12.4 x 17.1 x 0.8 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Inscribed on inside of front cover, in ink: "David Johnson. / Cor of Pearl and Chatham / St. New York."
INSCRIPTIONS [See Description]
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 1997.157
CREDIT LINE Gift of Blair Effron
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Sketchbook of 18 pages of different colored paper with graphite drawings, some with highlights of either white chalk or opaque watercolor, a few of the pages are blank; book covers are composed of paperboard covered in brown fabric. From "front" of book (front cover signed on inside), sketches in various orientations: p. 1: sketch of trees p. 2: (recto) graphite scribbles; (verso) sketch of seashore, inscribed in upper right: "Sun Rise from [... arge]" p. 3: (verso) partial sketch of cow p. 7: (verso) vertical sketch of tree trunks and stream, inscribed at lower left: "Conway July 16th. 51." p. 10: (verso) sketch of figures, trees, and buildings p. 11: (verso) vertical sketch of buildings, including church, inscribed at upper left: "Conway. 27th." p. 12: (recto) very loose sketch, inscribed at lower left: "Corot."; (verso) landscape with cabins and mountains p. 13: (verso) landscape with cabin and rolls of hay, inscribed at lower center "Mount Washington" and at lower right "Conway N.H. Oct 51." p. 14: (verso) vertical landscape with trees in foreground, inscribed at lower left: "Bartlett. Oct. 51. N.H." p. 15: (verso) vertical landscape with trees, inscribed at lower left: "Bartlett. Oct. 51. N.H." p. 16: (verso) vertical landscape with trees, inscribed at lower left: "Bartlett. Oct. 51. N.H." p. 17: (verso) sketch of farmstead in landscape with cart, fences, and sleeping dog at lower right, inscribed at lower left: "Conway Sept 51. N.H." p. 18: (recto) light, partial sketch of cows; (verso) trees and buildings, inscribed at upper right: "Conway July 16th."
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION David Johnson (American, 1827–1908). Sketchbook, Conway, New Hampshire, July–October 1851. Graphite, chalk, and opaque watercolor on medium-weight, beige, wove paper, sketchbook, sketchbook: 4 7/8 x 6 3/4 x 5/16 in. (12.4 x 17.1 x 0.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Blair Effron, 1997.157 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.157_p14_verso_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1997.157_p14_verso_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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