Study, Harbor Island, Lake George

This painting, with its meticulously detailed view of the shores of Lake George in the Adirondack region of New York, is more highly finished than a painter’s informal “study” might ordinarily promise.

Frederick and Julia Billings purchased a David Johnson painting in 1882, possibly for their city home in New York. However, this painting of Lake George was acquired by the Rockefellers and added to the Mansion collection in the 1960s.

Johnson was a student of Jasper Cropsey. He exhibited at the National Academy and the American Art-Union as early as 1849. Johnson lived most of his career in New York City, and sketched in New England and New York. He became a member of the National Academy in 1861.