Elizabeth Grant Bankson Beatty (Mrs. James Beatty) and Her Daughter Susan - Joshua Johnson

Purchased with funds provided by Robin and Timm R. Reynolds and Jill Burnside Zeno; Bulley and Andrews, Edna Graham, Love Galleries, Mary Swissler Oldberg, Ratcliffe Foundation, and Quinn E. Delaney funds; Walter Aitken, Dr. Julian Archie, Mr. and Mrs. Perry Herst, Jay W. McGreevy, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Puth, Stone Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick G. Wacker, Jr. endowment funds; through prior acquisitions of the George F. Harding Collection and Ruth Helgeson

American Art Modern Art Paintings

"Elizabeth Grant Bankson Beatty (Mrs. James Beatty) and Her Daughter Susan" by Joshua Johnson (c. 1805) Oil on canvas.

Commentary

"Elizabeth Grant Bankson Beatty (Mrs. James Beatty) and Her Daughter Susan" by Joshua Johnson (c. 1805) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through col or, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Themes to notice include painting. This piece is held in the source collection's Arts of the Americas collection. Joshua Johnson is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Joshua Johnson (American, c. The work is cataloged within a Baltimore cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as painting, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Oil on canvas) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (82.9 × 72.8 cm (32 5/8 × 28 5/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include painting. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/150054

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data