John Graver Johnson (1841, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – April 13, 1917, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American corporate lawyer and art collector. The

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

law firm that he founded in 1863 continues under the name

Saul Ewing Saul Ewing LLP is a U.S.-based law firm with 18 offices and approximately 425 attorneys providing a broad range of legal services. Its offices are located along the East Coast from Boston to Miami and extend into the Midwest by way of Chicago. ...

. His collection of nearly 1,300 paintings forms the core of early European works at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

Career

The son of a blacksmith, he attended Philadelphia public schools, and apprenticed in the law offices of Benjamin & Murray Rush. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar in February 1863, and served briefly in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He had an extraordinary memory, reportedly memorizing Shakespeare plays as a youth, and reciting extended citations of law in the courtroom.Obituary, ''The New York Times'', April 15, 1917.
/ref> He argued 168 cases before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, beginning in 1884. He represented the

Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

, the

Sugar Trust Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

, the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of ...

, and the Northern Securities Company; and was counsel for J. P. Morgan & Company, the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

, the Baldwin Locomotive Company, the

United States Steel Corporation United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

, the Amalgamated Copper Company, the American Distilleries Company, and many other corporations and banks. Johnson declined offers to be nominated to the United States Supreme Court from Presidents

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

and

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

unsuccessfully sought him to become

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

. In an April 15, 1917 obituary, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called him, "the greatest lawyer in the English-speaking world," and, "probably less known to the general public in proportion to his importance than any other man in the United States."

Art collecting

Johnson amassed one of the finest art collections in the United States. Relying on his own judgment and study, he concentrated on early-Renaissance Italian primitives, Spanish, Flemish, and Dutch paintings. He also bought works by artists who were his contemporaries, including Eduard Charlemont,

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...

, Mariano Fortuny,

T. Alexander Harrison Thomas Alexander Harrison (January 17, 1853 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOctober 13, 1930 in Paris, France), was an American marine painter who spent most of his career in France. Career He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Ph ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

, and

James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

. He made annual trips to Europe, and wrote a short memoir: ''Sight-Seeing in Berlin and Holland among Pictures'' (1892). An assessment of the collection from 1914:

Family

In 1875, he married Ida Powel Morrell, a widow with three small children. They had no children together. The family lived at 506 South Broad Street, and he later bought the adjacent house to store his art collection.

Bequest

In his Will, Johnson left the collection to the City of Philadelphia with the provision that it be exhibited at 510 South Broad Street. A proposal to build a museum on the new Benjamin Franklin Parkway to house the collection was considered and abandoned. Following six years in storage, the City opened the house museum in November 1923, but the first two floors provided only enough room to display 275 works. More than 1,000 works were stored on the upper floors or in rented space elsewhere. In 1931, the unexhibited works were moved into storage at the newly built Philadelphia Museum of Art. The City's fire marshal subsequently found 510 South Broad Street not to be fireproof, and in June 1933 the 275 exhibited works were "temporarily" transferred to the

. The City demolished the Broad Street house in the late-1950s to build a medical clinic. Johnson's art was exhibited as a separate collection within the Philadelphia Museum of Art for more than 50 years. In the 1980s legal approval was granted for the Museum to integrate the works into its full collection. The current 100-year loan of the collection lasts until 2083."John G. Johnson, Giant of the Philadelphia Bar,"
from Philadelphia Bar Association.

Selected works from the Johnson Collection

Italian paintings

File:Pietro Lorenzetti, Italian (active Siena, Assisi, Arezzo, and Florence), first documented 1306, last documented 1345 - Virgin and Child Enthroned and Donor, Angels - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Madonna and Child Enthroned, with Donor and Angels'' (c. 1320),

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimens ...

. File:Giovanni bellini, madonna col bambino, 1459-86 ca..JPG, ''Madonna and Child'' (c. 1459-86),

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

. File:Carlo crivelli, pietà, 1472 ca. 01.JPG, ''Pietà'' (''Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels'') (1472),

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli (Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivarini ...

. File:Vittore crivelli, madonna col bambino e santi francescani, 1481, 01.JPG, ''Madonna and Child with Saint Francis'' (1481), Vittore Crivelli. File:BOTTICELLI Portrait Lorenzo di Ser Piero Lorenzi.jpg, ''Portrait of Lorenzo de Lorenzi'' (1492), Sandro Botticelli. File:Marco basaiti, madonna col bambino e san jacopo, 1500-01 ca..JPG, ''Madonna and Child'' (c. 1500-01),

Marco Basaiti Marco Basaiti (c. 1470–1530) was a Renaissance painter who worked mainly in Venice and was a contemporary of Giovanni Bellini and Cima da Conegliano.

. File:Dosso Dossi (Giovanni de' Luteri), Italian (active Ferrara), first recorded 1512, died 1542 - The Holy Family, with the Young Saint John the Baptist, a Cat, and Two Donors - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Holy Family with John the Baptist, a Cat, and Two Donors'' (1512–13),

Dosso Dossi Giovanni di Niccolò de Luteri, better known as Dosso Dossi ( 1489–1542), was an Italian Renaissance painter who belonged to the School of Ferrara, painting in a style mainly influenced by Venetian painting, in particular Giorgione and early T ...

. File:Saint Jerome in the Wilderness by Paris Bordone.jpeg, ''St. Jerome in the Wilderness'' (c. 1520-25),

Paris Bordone Paris Bordone (Paris Paschalinus Bordone; 5 July 1500 – 19 January 1571) was an Italian painter of the Venetian Renaissance who, despite training with Titian, maintained a strand of Mannerism, Mannerist complexity and provincial vigor. Biog ...

. File:Tiziano, ritratto del cardinale filippo archinto, 1558.JPG, ''Cardinal Filippo Archinto'' (1558),

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

Flemish and Dutch paintings

File:Campin, Robert — Blessing Christ and Praying Virgin — c. 1425.jpg, ''Blessing Christ and Praying Virgin'' (1424), Robert Campin. File:Attributed to Jan van Eyck, Netherlandish (active Bruges), c. 1395 - 1441 - Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata'' (1430–32), attributed to

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( , ; – July 9, 1441) was a painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. Ac ...

. A copy is at the

Sabauda Gallery The Galleria Sabauda is an art collection in the Italian city of Turin, which contains the royal art collections amassed by the House of Savoy over the centuries. It is located on Via XX Settembre, 86. The museum, whose first directors were Robe ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Italy. File:Philip the Fair 5 years Philadelphia.jpg, ''Philip the Handsome, at 5 Years'' (1483),

Master of the Legend of the Magdalen The Master of the Legend of the Magdalen (sometimes called the Master of the Magdalen Legend) was an Early Netherlandish painter, active from about 1483 to around 1527. He has not been identified; his name of convenience is derived from a large, ...

. File:Bosch Ecce Homo.jpg, '' Ecce Homo'' (c.1510), attributed to Hieronymus Bosch. A related work is at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. File:Joos van cleve, ritratto di francesco I di francia, 1532-33 ca..JPG, ''Francis I of France'' (c. 1530), Joos van Cleve. File:Brueghel II, Pieter - Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery 1600.jpg, ''

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (or the ) is a passage (pericope) found in John 7:53– 8:11 of the New Testament. It has been the subject of much scholarly discussion. In the passage, Jesus was teaching in the Second Temple after co ...

'' (c. 1600), Pieter Brueghel the Younger. File:Theodoor Rombouts - Joueur de luth.jpg, ''The Lute Player'' (c.1620),

Theodoor Rombouts Theodoor Rombouts (2 July 1597 – 14 September 1637) was a Flemish painter who is mainly known for his Caravaggesque genre scenes depicting lively dramatic gatherings as well as religiously-themed works.Hans Vlieghe. "Rombouts, Theodoor." Gr ...

. File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch (active Leiden and Amsterdam) - Head of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

Head of Christ The ''Head of Christ'', also called the ''Sallman Head'', is a 1940 portrait painting of Jesus of Nazareth by American artist Warner Sallman (1892–1968). As an extraordinarily successful work of Christian popular devotional art, it had been ...

'' (c. 1648-56),

Rembrandt van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

. File:Steen Rhetoricians at a Window.jpg, ''Rhetoricians at a Window'' (1662–68),

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Life ...

Spanish and French paintings

File:Joan reixac, scomparto di predella con cristo coronato di spine, 1454.JPG, ''Christ Crowned with Thorns'' (c. 1476-80), Joan Reixach. File:El Greco Pietà.jpg, ''Pietà'' (1571–76),

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

. File:Velazquez--taller-MTeresa-filadelfia.jpg, ''Infanta Maria Teresa'' (1650s), Studio of Velásquez. File:Saint Jean baptisant le Christ - Poussin - Philadelphie Museum of Art.jpg, ''The Baptism of Christ'' (1655–57),

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

19th century paintings

File:Gustave Courbet, French - Spanish Woman - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Spanish Woman'' (1855),

. File:James Abbott McNeill Whistler - Purple and Rose- The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Purple and Rose- The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks'' (1864), James Abbott McNeill Whistler. File:Édouard Manet-Kearsarge-Alabama2.jpg, ''Battle of "The Kearsarge" and "The Alabama"'' (1864),

. File:Fortuny Cap àrab.jpg, ''Arab Chief'' (1874), Mariano Fortuny. File:Claude Monet - The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil (Philadelphia).jpg, ''The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil'' (1874),

. File:Eduard Charlemont, Austrian - The Moorish Chief - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Moorish Chief'' (1878), Eduard Charlemont. File:John Singer Sargent, American (active London, Florence, and Paris) - In the Luxembourg Gardens - Google Art Project.jpg, ''In the Luxembourg Gardens'' (1879),

. File:Saint mammes (philadelphia museum of art).jpg, ''The Bridge at Saint-Mammès'' (1881), Alfred Sisley. File:I købmand Winthers butik i Skagen.jpg, ''In Merchant Winthers Tavern in Skagen'' (1886), Peder Severin Krøyer. File:Winslow Homer - Winter Coast.jpg, ''Winter Coast'' (1890), Winslow Homer.

References

* Barnie F. Winkelman, ''John G. Johnson, Lawyer and Art Collector, 1841–1917'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942).

External links

* *
''Catalogue of the John G. Johnson Collection'' (1914)
from Google Books.

''Time Magazine'', November 10, 1941.
John G. Johnson Papers
Philadelphia Museum of Art.

1988 exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
"John G. Johnson, Giant of the Philadelphia Bar,"
from Philadelphia Bar Association. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John G. 1841 births 1917 deaths American art collectors Members of the Philadelphia Club Pennsylvania lawyers Lawyers from Philadelphia People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 19th-century American lawyers

Career

Art collecting

Family

Bequest

Selected works from the Johnson Collection

Italian paintings

Flemish and Dutch paintings

Spanish and French paintings

19th century paintings

See also

References

External links