Cornelius Johnson: Charles I’s Forgotten Painter

Small but interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on the 17th century British court painter Cornelius Johnson.

Basically he was making a good living painting the royal family and the Stuart court when two bad things happened for him. First Van Dyck arrived and over shadowed him and then the Civil War cut off his source of work. However the pictures were lovely particularly small pictures of Charles I’s children. He also painted lace really beautifully.

I was interested in the biographical details they had and that he had worked in Blackfrairs where Van Dyck also had his studio. I got a real sense of an artist community there at that time surrounded by the engravers who helped them distribute their images. Also that he was the first British artists to consistently sign and date his work.

On the outbreak of the Civil War Johnson moved to the Netherlands and painted the wealthy merchants of the cities there dying in Utrecht in 1661.

This was a lovely insight into an interesting artists who, if it was not for Van Dyck, might be better remembered and celebrated.

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