Portrait of David Gardiner, Jr.
c. 1762-1763
30 in. x 25 in.
William Johnston,
American,
(1732–1772)
Medium and Support:
oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Florence Griswold Museum, Gift of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
Accession Number:
2002.1.75
In New London, around 1762, Johnston painted this 20-year-old man, his sister, and their parents. The family, from Gardiner's Island in Long Island Sound, may have been visiting New London. His style is simple, straightforward, and unpretentious, and that mattered most to Johnston's Connecticut clients. He was kept busy in New London, Hartford, and New Haven. By 1770 he had moved on to Barbados, where he died.