Items

Portrait of Mrs. Barbara Baker Murphy (Wife of Sea Captain)
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.
Portrait of Adelia Ellender
Adelia Ellender lived in Baltimore, Maryland, where her father was a plasterer. Her dress follows the custom in this period of portraying children as miniature adults. The berries in her hand and the butterfly hovering in a rosebush nearby symbolize not only her childhood innocence but her eventual transformation into a lady