Portrait of Ellin North Moale (Mrs. John Moale)(1740-1825) and Her Granddaughter, Ellin North Moale (1794-1803)

Joshua Johnson was a free man "of colour," as period documents cite. He readily noted that he had "experienced many insuperable obstacles in the pursuit of his studies." Though history records no details, he must have faced significant challenges to surmount the racial barriers of his day in order to learn the art of portrait painting.

Johnson's likeness of Ellin North Moale (1741-1825) and her namesake-granddaughter (1794-1803) offers tantalizing clues as to how Baltimore society regarded the artist. Mrs. Moale was wealthy and prominent. More unusually, she patronized multiple portraitists. As a younger woman, she was painted by John Wollaston, Jr., and John Hesselius and, in later years, by Rembrandt Peale and C. A. Muller. Why she added Johnson to her list of portrayers can only be guessed. Peale may have recommended Johnson, but almost certainly Mrs. Moale knew the artist personally, for Johnson's successive addresses include two close to her own.

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