David Johnson (May 10, 1827 – January 30, 1908) was a member of the second generation of Hudson River School painters.
He was born in New York City, New York. He studied for two years at the antique school of the National Academy of Design. He also studied briefly with the Hudson River artist Jasper Francis Cropsey. Along with John Frederick Kensett and John William Casilear, he was best known for the development of Luminism. His most important work was Haines Falls, Kauterskill Clove, 1849. Johnson wrote on the back of the painting, "My first study from nature. Made in company with J.F. Kensett, and J.W. Casilear," making this an important historic document. By 1850, Johnson was exhibiting regularly at the National Academy of Design in New York, where he became an associate in 1860. He exhibited extensively in other major American art centers, including Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. He died in Walden, New York, in 1908.
