Upstate New York is the subject of many of David Johnson's works; he frequently painted the Hudson River Valley, the Catskill Mountains, and the Adirondack Mountains. Johnson's most breathtaking landscapes were painted of Lake George, and the area lent itself well to Johnson's painting style and meticulous transcription of his environment. As a Luminist artist, Johnson's works are characterized by the absence of visible brushstrokes and realistic depiction of the interplay between light and reflection in natural landscapes. His Lake George scenes, arguably his finest work and most sought-after, were mostly painted during the 1870's, when the area was already a popular resort destination, though it is very rare for these paintings to have any indication of human presence.
