Grace Allison McCurdy (Mrs. Hugh McCurdy) and Her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace

c. 1806

Joshua Johnson

Associated Names
Joshua Johnson

Painter, American, born c. 1763, active 1796 - 1824

A woman and two children wear nearly matching white dresses in this vertical portrait. All three have pale skin, and they look out at us. Their floor length, short-sleeved, scoop-necked dresses are made with what looks like light, tulle-like fabric gathered just below the bust. The woman sits to our left on a dark sofa. The back of the couch curves up over her shoulders and down to our right, and off the painting. The top edge of the sofa has nail-head trim, and the wall behind it is elephant gray. The woman’s curling brown hair is pulled back behind a white headband. She has gray eyes, and her pink lips are closed. She holds a sprig of strawberries with her right hand, which rests in her lap. Her left arm, on our right, wraps around the younger child, who stands on the sofa at the center of the composition. The child has blond hair and light brown eyes, and wears a delicate, coral bead necklace. To our right, the older child stands in front of the couch. Her black hair is brushed back from her face except for bangs sweeping across her forehead. She has dark brown eyes and wears a gold-colored necklace. The older girl holds a basket of strawberries with her left hand, and rests her other hand on the pointed end of a parasol, which is tucked behind her body to our left.

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West Building Main Floor, Gallery 63

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

This painting looks like a family portrait with five people: two seated adults and three children. The person on the far left is a seated woman with dark hair styled up and short, curling bangs, wearing a gray dress with puffed sleeves and lace details at the neckline. She holds a folded piece of paper in her lap and has one arm around the girl next to her. On her right stand two young girls with curly reddish-brown hair tied back, both dressed in white dresses with puffed sleeves and lace around the necklines. The girl to the left holds a pink flower, while the other holds a small pink bud. On their right is a seated man with short reddish-brown hair, wearing a dark jacket over a yellow vest and a white cravat and green trousers, holding a small book partially open. Standing to the right, partially behind the man, is a young boy dressed in a green coat with gold buttons over a pink vest and white shirt. All five of the people have pale skin. Behind the family is a black semi-circle, and around that is a gradient of brown, darker at the top and lighter towards the bottom.

Article:  Who Is Joshua Johnson? 7 Things to Know

The Maryland-based artist is one of America’s earliest-documented  professional Black portraitists.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The sitter, Grace Allison McCurdy [1775-1822, Mrs. Hugh McCurdy, later Mrs. Edward N. Clopper]; by inheritance to her daughter, the sitter Letitia Grace McCurdy Douglass [1797-1875, Mrs. Richard Henry Douglass], Baltimore; by inheritance to her daughter, Grace Douglass; by descent to her daughter, Mrs. Joseph Earl Moore, Baltimore; by inheritance by 1958 to her son, Allen F. Voshell, Jr., Baltimore; (sale, Phillips, New York, 17 May 1982, no. 394); (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York); purchased 1983 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1945

  • Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, 11 May - 17 June 1945, no. 67, repro.

1948

  • An Exhibition of Portraits by Joshua Johnston, Peale Museum, Baltimore, 11 January - 8 February 1948, no. 13, repro.

1958

  • J. Hall Pleasants, a Memorial Exhibition, Baltimore Museum of Art, 2 December 1958 - 18 January 1959, unnumbered checklist.

1976

  • Selections of Nineteenth-Century Afro-American Art,The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19 June - 1 August 1976, unnumbered checklist.

1986

  • Loan to display wtih permanent collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1 November 1986 - 30 April 1987, no catalogue.

1987

  • Joshua Johnson: Freeman and Early American Portrait Painter, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, Connecticut, 25 September 1987 - 25 August 1988, no. 41.

1993

  • The Century Club Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 July - 13 September 1993, unpublished checklist.

1999

  • Celebrating the Legacy: African American Art from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 30 July - 22 September 1999, no catalogue.

2002

  • Celebrating the Legacy III: African American Art from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 10 January - 25 February 2002, unpublished checklist.

2005

  • Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 7.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1 March - 27 July 2008, unpublished checklist.

2009

  • American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June - 18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

2011

  • Cash, Sarah. "Joshua Johnson, Grace Allison McCurdy (Mrs. Hugh McCurdy) and her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 37, 62-63, 256, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q28809121

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