Henrietta Johnston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Johnston

Henrietta de Beaulieu Dering Johnston (ca. 1674 – March 9, 1729) was a pastelist of uncertain origin active in the English colonies in North America from approximately 1708 until her death. She is both the earliest recorded female artist and the first known pastelist working in the English colonies.

Johnston usually signed her portraits on their wooden backing, noting her name, the location of completion, and the date of completion in order. A typical signature is the inscription on the reverse of her portrait of Philip Percival: Henrietta Dering Fecit / Dublin Anno 1704. Johnston was almost exclusively a portraitist; the only landscapes attributed to her hand are the backgrounds of a pair of children's portraits from New York, which are also her only known portraits of children.

About forty portraits by Johnston are known to survive; many have preserved their original frames and backboards, on which her signature may be found. These mostly depict members of her social circle and, later, of her husband's Charleston congregation, such as Colonel William Rhett. Many of her South Carolina portraits depict members of Huguenot families that had settled in the New World, including the Prioleaus, Bacots, and duBoses. Today, a number of her works are held by the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, which has developed an interactive online exhibition dedicated to her work; other pieces may be seen in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Greenville County Museum of Art. Johnston is not known to have worked in oils, but one of her portraits was copied at some point by Jeremiah Theus.

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/johnston-henrietta-de-be...

Appointed bishop’s commissary in South Carolina by the bishop of London in April 1708, Johnston and his wife arrived in Charleston. The Reverend Johnston became the rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and repeatedly wrote to the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts requesting payment of his salary, which was often delayed. In one letter he states: “were it not for the Assistance my wife gives me by drawing of Pictures . . . I shou’d not have been able to live,” indicating that Henrietta Johnston was compensated for her portraits, making her the first professional woman artist in America. As in Ireland, her sitters were drawn from her circle of associates, including numerous Huguenots (the Prioleaus, Bacots, DuBoses) and members of her husband’s congregation, such as Colonel William Rhett. In contrast to the deep earth tones and sophistication of her Irish pastels, the ones crafted in Charleston are lighter, simpler, and smaller, indicative of the preciousness of her materials, all of which had to be imported. In America her female subjects usually wore delicate chemises, while the male sitters were dressed in street clothes or, occasionally, armor. Each sitter’s posture is erect, with the head turned slightly toward the viewer. Typically, large oval eyes dominate the subject’s face. About forty portraits are extant. Pastels by Henrietta Dering Johnston are in private collections in Ireland, and in American museums, including: Gibbes Museum of Art, Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Greenville County Museum of Art. She died on March 9, 1729, in Charleston and was buried in St. Philip’s Churchyard.