Featured 1930s Robert Johnson Painting - Which R Johnson do I have?

I found this at my local thrift store & bought it not because I loved it but because when I googled the name I saw Robert Johnson was a known listed artist.
But when I got home and looked - there are a lot of Robert Johnson artists!
This one was from same period, but signature is very different: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Robert-Joh...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Can anyone tell me about the artist on my old painting?
Thank you

 

Google maps says 963 Springfield Rd, Darby CT is a commercial building. 963 Springfield Rd, Darby PA is a house.

 

It's Derby, CT, isn't it? The house in Darby, Pennsylvania is rather a poor one.

Debora

 

Is this the Johnson you found?

https://www.invaluable.com/artist/johnson-robert-1890-0z05g92s87/sold-at-auction-prices/

 

I saw those - the signatures are much more... slanted?

 

Looked at several Robt. Johnson artists and was unable to come up with a match. I think this rather nice and worthy of more research.

 

Let me start by saying this is a beautiful painting. The cracking of the paint, tone of the back of the canvas, and darkness of the wood all line up with the supposed age of the piece.

A couple observations, most of the signatures of the artist seem to have his full first name. The signature looks different compared to his other identified works. I also don’t see other works where he lists the year of the painting.

Possible explanation: It’s still entirely possible the work is from him; perhaps someone that owned the artwork signed it years later to identify him. It’s always a possibility that someone painted it in his style, but given that he is not a super well known artist, why spend the time to do that? If I were in your shoes, I would research which art galleries have successfully taken his work to auction. I would contact directly and ask for an auction estimate. You might just “back in” to a confirmation of authenticity at no cost.

 

Great idea, thank you!

 

You might want to start by calling the Darby library and ask the reference librarian to look up the Johnson family listing at that address in the 1931 telephone directory. That may give you other information such as profession of head of household and names of family members.

Debora

 

That could be Mt. Baker in N Western Washington state.

 

I have a painting with the same handwriting, but just signed “Johnson”. Would love to know more too!

 

Why don't you ask the Darby, PA research librarian? S/he may know of the Johnson family or can do a telephone directory search for you. (The old directories identified the professions of heads of households.)

http://darbylibrary.org/contact-us/

Debora