A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves

By the late 1850s, Johnson had earned a reputation as a rising American artist, particularly with respect to genre paintings. Notably, Johnson was one of only a handful of American artists creating works depicting the lives of African-Americans, having earned considerable attention with his 1859 exhibition of Negro Life at the South.[2]

During the American Civil War, Johnson attached himself to the Union Army and, over the course of the war, would produce numerous paintings and sketches of the people and events he witnessed.[3][4] In the months prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run Johnson was with the Army of the Potomac outside of Manassas, Virginia.[3] Early in the morning on March 2, 1862, Johnson claimed to have seen a family of African-Americans fleeing towards the Union Army lines in the hopes of acquiring contraband status.[3]

Johnson began working on the painting shortly thereafter and completed the work at some point during 1862. On the back of the painting, Johnson wrote “A veritable incident/in the Civil War seen by/myself at Centerville/on this morning of/McClellan’s advance towards Manassas March 2, 1862/Eastman Johnson.”[3] Johnson painted three versions of the work, but only two copies are known of today, one owned by the Brooklyn Museum and another owned by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.[3] Neither appears to have been exhibited during Johnson's lifetime.[3]

The painting depicts a family of three African-Americans slaves on horseback in early morning light.[5] In front, a child sits in the lap of his father, with his mother riding on the back of the horse.[6] The horse appears in motion, galloping away from the source of their enslavement and towards Union Army lines.[1] According to the Brooklyn Museum, the work is considered "virtually unique in art of the period" in portraying the former slaves as "agents of their own freedom."[1] In the bottom right hand corner of the work Johnson left his initials ("E.J.").[3]

A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves is considered one of Johnson's most renowned works and a highlight of his portfolio.[7][6]

It has also been praised by historians as one of only a handful of contemporary works depicting the plight of slaves fleeing their Southern enslavers.[7][6][8]

• Brooklyn Museum