Mount Chocorua
David Johnson (1827–1908)
Signed and dated lower left:  D. Johnson 1851
Oil on canvas, 16 x 23 inches
Private collection

David Johnson made the first of many visits to the White Mountains in 1851.  As Benjamin Champney described his encounter with Johnson that year, “I found already established at the Kearsarge House, the New York contingent, headed by Casilear.  They were: David Johnson, John Williamson, and a nephew of A. B. Durand.  We made a jolly crowd.”   Artists also stayed in more remote towns or farmhouses.  Johnson and his companions even camped out.  Their decision to do so brought its own rewards.  Spending the night on the summit of Mount Kearsarge, Johnson wrote to Jasper F. Cropsey that he experienced the “finest sun set, sun rise and elevated view, I think I ever saw.”