Joshua Johnson is the first African American to achieve broad professional recognition as a painter in the United States. Born into slavery and manumitted in the late 18th century, he established a thriving portrait studio in Baltimore, catering to prominent merchant families. His style represents a refined highlight of early American folk portraiture, recognized for crisp linear contours, delicate porcelain-like modeling, and signature decorative details—such as brass-tacks on upholstered furniture, lace trims, and symbolic fruits or flowers held by his sitters.