File:Earlier Owned Works - DPLA - f7739baf76443e512902b398fef8872c (page 7).jpg

This album consists of images of objects Johnson owned at one time. It holds 42 photographs, most of which appear to be albumen silver prints measuring approximately 9"x11.5". An inscription inside, in a hand that is not Johnson's, reads: "Selections from J.G. Johnson Collection." Additional information is written on paper that once wrapped the volume: "J.G. Johnson/Mounted Photos of Earlier Owned Work." The wrapping and note were most likely prepared much later by Museum library staff. The volume primarily documents Johnson's interest in contemporary European painting, that is, works executed during the 1870s and 1880s, with the last nine images devoted to decorative art pieces. Although none of the paintings are identified, an occasional signature and year can be discerned, which verifies the date range noted above. Some of the artists represented are Jan van Beers, Jean-Baptiste-Edouard Detaille, Alberto Pasini, Gustavo Simoni, Francesco Vinea, and Jean Béraud. A seascape by the Russian-born Ivan Aivazovsky is also included. It appears likely that Johnson later decided to sell most of these acquisitions, as suggested by the "earlier owned work" notation." A number of the artists who can be identified from these prints are also noted in Johnson's receipts from the Philadelphia art dealer Haseltine Galleries. The Haseltine papers are included in the "Correspondence" series. Based on that documentation, Johnson purchased works by these artists in the early 1880s, only to return some of them for credit by the end of the decade. Furthermore, only two paintings reproduced in this volume have been identified as still remaining in the Johnson Collection--Pasini's "Street in Damascus" (Cat. 1057) and van Beers' "Girl with a Parrot" (Inv. 2438). Based on these observations and the albumen format of the photographs (prevalent 1870-1990), this volume probably was compiled between the early 1880s and early 1890s.