American Art Collaborative

Henry Elliott Johnston (1831-1884) was a Baltimore railroad executive and banker. He and his wife, Harriet, traveled frequently to Europe to build their art collection, and this bust was created on one of their trips to Rome. Like other wealthy Americans of the Gilded Age, the Johnstons hoped that America would one day compete with European art institutions. They anticipated that their private collection would contribute to that process by becoming part of “a national gallery of art.