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Three pale-skinned, blue-eyed children wearing green suits stand in a row facing us in this horizontal portrait painting. They all have round faces and full, pink cheeks. The tallest child is to the right, and he has shoulder-length cinnamon-brown hair. The other two come up to his shoulder and have blond hair. The tallest puts one arm on the far shoulder of the middle child, and the two smaller children hold hands. Each wears a pine-green, one-piece outfit with pewter-gray buttons, a wide, ivory-white collar lined with ruffles, and black, shin-high boots. The boy on our left holds a branch of dark red cherries. The middle child holds a pink rose, and the tallest a basket filled with pink roses. A black dog holding a gray and mauve-pink bird in its mouth stands in profile facing our left in the lower right corner of the canvas. The room around them has a tan-colored floor and gray walls. The room opens onto an alcove to our right with a rectangular window. A slender tree is along the left edge of the opening and a few pale, pink-tinged gray mountains line the bottom edge. Clear blue sky fills the rest of the window.

The Westwood Children, c. 1807

Joshua Johnson

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 63

Wearing nearly matching outfits, Henry, George, and John Westwood look out from the canvas. The brothers all have fair, wispy hair and delicate facial features. They touch one another tenderly, and each carries something from the outdoors, which we can see through the window.

Joshua Johnson uses vibrant color to bring the painting to life. The red and pink flowers, and even the dog’s gums, contrast with the brothers’ fashionable green suits. The earliest known professional Black artist in the United States, Johnson earned many commissions to paint his fellow Baltimore residents.

Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Naive Paintings, pages 232-233, which is available as a free PDF.

Object Data

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 104.5 x 117 cm (41 1/8 x 46 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Accession Number

1959.11.1

Artists / Makers

Joshua Johnson (painter) American, born c. 1763, active 1796 - 1824

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Detail Information

Provenance

George Washington Westwood (the youngest child in the portrait), Baltimore; to his grand-niece, Grace Geddess Davis; to her sons, George Harvey Davis and Howard G. Davis, Baltimore; by whom sold 1955 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1959.

Associated Names

Davis, George Harvey
Davis, Grace Geddess
Davis, Howard G.
Garbisch, Edgar William, Mr. and Mrs.
Westwood, George Washington