Pierre Bacot
Henrietta Johnston, Pierre Bacot, ca. 1708-1710. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue)
Henrietta Johnston, Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue), ca. 1708-1710. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Background
Artist Henrietta Johnston was born in northern France around 1674. In 1687 her family fled to London to escape religious persecution. In 1694 she married a son of a baronet and moved to Ireland. While in Ireland, Henrietta learned to make pastel portraits.
Henrietta’s husband died in 1704, leaving her a widow with two young children. She remarried in 1705. Her second husband Gideon Johnston was a minister in the Anglican Church. He had four children of his own and was in financial trouble. In 1708 he decided to move his entire family to Charleston in the colony of South Carolina, accepting the role of representative for the bishop of London.
The Johnston family continued to have money troubles in their new home, so Henrietta started to work as a professional portraitist for the city’s elite. She was the first recorded professional woman artist in the colonies, and the first colonial artist to use pastels. Getting the supplies she needed was difficult, so Henrietta made a trip back to London in 1711. On her return journey, she survived an attack by pirates.
When Gideon died in 1716, Henrietta became the sole provider for her family. Her reputation as an artist spread and in 1725 she traveled to New York to make portraits for that city’s elite. She died in Charleston on March 9, 1729. Today about three dozen of her portraits survive.
About the Resources
This pair of portraits were some of the first Henrietta Johnston completed after she arrived in the South Carolina colony. The subjects, Pierre Bacot and his wife Marianne, were both refugees of the religious wars in France. This was something they shared in common with Henrietta.
Henrietta’s style was much softer than the pastels being created back in Europe and her subjects are depicted in simpler clothing. Art historians believe Henrietta developed this style to preserve her supplies. Her precious pastels could only be purchased in England.
Vocabulary
- Anglican Church: The official Church of England.
- baronet: The lowest title in the British aristocracy.
- bishop: A leader in the Anglican Church who oversees a specific area.
- minister: A person who can lead Christian religious services.
- pastel: A crayon made of a paste of powdered pigments and resin.
- refugee: A person who has been forced to flee their country because of persecution, war, or natural disaster.
- religious persecution: Being attacked for your beliefs.
Discussion Questions
- What do these portraits reveal about the fashions in the English colonies of North America in the early 1700s? What do these fashions reveal about the culture and values of this society?
- What kind of person could afford to have a professional portrait made in the 1700s? Why is it important to keep this in mind when studying portraits for clues about life in the colonies?
- Why is it important to acknowledge the work and contributions of women artists?
Suggested Activities
- Compare the clothing depicted in this resource with the outfits described in Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion to emphasize the diversity of styles and opinions among white colonials across the English colonies.
- To learn more about how fashion can reveal a society’s history and values, see Fashionable Rebellion.
- Pair this resource with The Rapalje Children to consider what sets Henrietta Johnson’s portraits apart from other colonial artists.
- Combine this resource with Mortar and Pestle for Pounding Rice and The Middle Passage to create a more complete picture of the people who lived and worked in the South Carolina colony.
- For a larger lesson about colonial women artists, pair this resource with any or all of the following:
Themes
IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION, AND SETTLEMENT; DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY
