Joseph Blackburn (painter) facts for kids

Abigail Chesebrough (Mrs. Alexander Grant), a painting from 1754, now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Joseph Blackburn, also known as Jonathan Blackburn, was an English artist who painted portraits. He worked mostly in Bermuda and in the American colonies before the United States became a country. He passed away in 1787. Some of his famous paintings include portraits of Hugh Jones (around 1777) and Colonel Theodore Atkinson (around 1760).

Life as a Painter

Joseph Blackburn was likely the son of another painter. He had his own art studio in Boston from about 1750 to 1765. Many important families in early America hired him to paint their pictures. These families included the Apthorps, Amorys, Bulfinches, Lowells, and Winthrops.

Blackburn traveled quite a bit for his work. He spent time in Bermuda (1752–1753), Newport (1754), Boston (1755–1758), and Portsmouth (1758–1762). In late 1763, he went back to London, England. He continued to paint portraits in southwestern England, Wales, and Dublin between 1768 and 1777.

We know of about 150 of Blackburn's portraits that still exist today. He was especially good at painting clothes. He could make silks look shiny, laces look detailed, and fabrics look like they had real folds.

Some of his paintings are in public places, like the library in Lexington, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. However, most of his artworks are owned by private collectors. One painting, of Elizabeth Browne Rogers from 1761, is at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in North Carolina.

This painting of Isaac Winslow and his family by Joseph Blackburn is one of the first group portraits in America. It shows Isaac Winslow, his wife Lucy, and their daughters Lucy and Hannah. You can see this painting at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

A famous American painter named John Singleton Copley was once Blackburn's student. It is said that Copley became very successful, and Blackburn eventually left his studio in Boston. For a long time, many of Blackburn's paintings were mistakenly thought to be by Copley.

Recently, in 2015, old records showed new information about Joseph Blackburn. We now know that he lived and died in the city of Worcester, England, in 1787. He and his family lived on Broad Street. His family also rented out other properties, including a pub called The White Horse. Joseph inherited these properties after his father and possibly his aunt passed away in 1759.

His wife was named Mary, and they had two daughters, Henrietta and Elizabeth. Both daughters married local men but seem to have passed away without children.

An art historian named Lawrence Park wrote the first major study about Blackburn in 1923. This helped bring attention back to Blackburn's art.

Known Artworks

Here are some of Joseph Blackburn's selected artworks:

Year	Title	Image	Dimensions	Collection	Comments
1760	Portrait of Colonel Theodore Atkinson, oil on canvas		50 × 40¼ in. (127.0 × 102.2 cm.)	Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts	Colonel Theodore Atkinson (1697–1779) was a chief justice in New Hampshire.
1760	Benning Wentworth, oil on canvas		H-93.5 W-58 inches	New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord, New Hampshire	Benning Wentworth (1696–1770) was a governor of New Hampshire. The town of Bennington, Vermont, is named after him.
1760	Portrait of Mrs. Theodore Atkinson, oil on canvas		49⅛ × 39⅛ in. (124.8 × 99.4 cm.)	Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts (also listed at Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio)	Hannah Wentworth (1700-1769) was the wife of Colonel Theodore Atkinson.
1761	Thomas Wentworth, oil on canvas			San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California	This is a portrait of Thomas Wentworth (1740-1768).
1761	Portrait of Elizabeth Browne Rogers, oil on canvas		50 × 40 in. (127.0 × 101.6 cm.)	Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Elizabeth Browne (1741-1813) was the wife of Robert Rogers, a hero from the French and Indian War.
1762	Portrait of Ann Saltonstall, oil
1762	Portrait of Anne Saltonstall, oil on canvas		30½ × 24⅞ in. (127.6 × 102.6 cm.)	San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas
1762	Portrait of Samuel Cutts (1762-1763), oil on canvas		50¼ × 40⅜ in. (127.6 × 102.6 cm.)	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City	This is a portrait of Samuel Cutts (1726–1801).
1762	Portrait of Mrs. Samuel Cutts (1762-1763), oil on canvas		50¼ × 40½ in. (127.6 × 102.9 cm.)	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City	This is a portrait of Mrs. Samuel Cutts (1735–1812).
1764	Portrait of Hugh Jones, last known dated portrait by this artist		50⁹⁄₁₆ × 40¼ in. (128.4 × 102.2 cm.)	Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts