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Near Squam Lake, New Hampshire by David Johnson (American, 1827–1908)

David Johnson (American, 1827–1908) · 1856

David Johnson's 'Near Squam Lake, New Hampshire' (1856) was rediscovered after decades of obscurity, found hanging in a New York City apartment. Johnson, a second-generation Hudson River School painter, died in 1908, and much of his work slipped from public memory in the twentieth century.

The painting rewards close looking. The rough bark of the foreground pines is rendered with almost photographic precision. Yet in the distance, where the warm horizon haze dissolves the hills into sky, Johnson experiments with an unexpectedly loose, impressionistic hand. Small staff-carrying figures on the dirt path at right serve as a viewer surrogate, inviting you into the New Hampshire countryside.

Johnson painted this at a moment when railroads were opening the Northeast's interior to urban tourists. Works like this one offered a vision of accessible, pastoral wilderness, wild but no longer untamed, domesticated by the tiny grazing cattle visible in the left meadow.

Seeing it now means seeing what was nearly lost. A private collector recognized the painting for what it was and brought it back into the light.

Details

The painter died in 1908. His work vanished from view.
The painter died in 1908. His work vanished from view.
A collector found it, quietly hanging in a New York apartment.
A collector found it, quietly hanging in a New York apartment.
Look at the bark, the moss. Meticulous to the last inch.
Look at the bark, the moss. Meticulous to the last inch.
The haze at the horizon is almost impressionistic, unusual for 1856.
The haze at the horizon is almost impressionistic, unusual for 1856.
David Johnson was a master of the Hudson River School.
David Johnson was a master of the Hudson River School.
Transcript

For decades, this landscape was almost forgotten. The painter died in 1908. His work vanished from view. A collector found it, quietly hanging in a New York apartment. Look at the bark, the moss. Meticulous to the last inch. The haze at the horizon is almost impressionistic, unusual for 1856. David Johnson was a master of the Hudson River School. This painting waited over a century to be seen again.