We didn't even know about the first professional African-American artist until the 1930s.

Joshua Johnson’s body of work wasn’t linked to him until the 1930s, and no definitive biography of the artist was published until 1992. The paintings, mostly of upper and upper-middle class Baltimore and Maryland families dating from the Federal period, were linked by J. Hall Pleasants, a genealogist and art historian, who didn’t really have much to go on. Oral histories of the surviving paintings provided contradicting information, such as long-held family legends that the painter was enslaved by the family or even enslaved by Charles Willson Peale.

In fact, archival evidence that came to light over the course of the 20th century revealed that Johnson was a free black resident of Baltimore, although he did move around some to paint. New documents, acquired by the Maryland Historical Society in 1996, definitively established that Johnson was born a slave to an enslaved mother and a white father. When Johnson was about 19 years old (his life dates are still uncertain at this point), his father outright bought him and acknowledged his parentage, and placed him in apprenticeship to a blacksmith. Johnson was to be freed on his 21st birthday, or upon completion of his apprenticeship, whichever came first. Joshua finished his apprenticeship but apparently never actually worked as a blacksmith as far as we know. He’s listed as a limner, or painter, in Baltimore registries beginning in 1796.

In a 1798 ad, Johnson advertises his services, describing himself as a “self-taught genius” and also mentioned his "having experienced many insuperable obstacles in the pursuit of his studies" which may be a thinly-veiled reference to his race. As of now, over 80 works have been attributed to Johnson, which is pretty impressive for a painter who didn’t sign or date his works. Some art historians have called his style “naive” or “primitive”, which honestly just sounds a little patronizing and reductive. Johnson was clearly proud of his skill and his achievement, so let’s just call it folk art.