| abstract | - Johnston was the first American satirical artist to enjoy widespread popular appeal. He was regarded as the outstanding caricaturist of New England, and was the first American trained on native soil to achieve such a high degree of proficiency in the various disciplines related to lithography, etching, metal plate engraving, and wood engraving. He was raised in Philadelphia, and apprenticed to Francis Kearney from whom he learned the complexities of engraving and etching. His first lithograph appeared in the December 1825 issue of the Boston Monthly Magazine. Johnston had a strong leaning to lampooning, Caricature and satire, and his knowledge of the militia, temperance, religion, and politics, provided ample material and targets for his humour. He was aware of and inspired by the British caricaturist George Cruikshank's Scraps and Sketches published in 1827, and the similarity of title is not coincidental.
|
