Clifton Mansion: Art, History, and a Little Piece of Baltimore

Being commissioned to paint for Clifton Mansion brought me back to Baltimore, where I grew up, and into a project with a personal connection. My floral painting was created for the Thompson Breakfast Room, the only remaining room in the house furnished in an 18th-century style. My father, interior designer Henry P. Johnson, has been involved in its restoration.

The Work Behind the Rooms

Clifton’s restoration reflects years of research, patience and skilled work. Fine arts conservators Laurie Timm and Gillian Quinn have undertaken the painstaking work of removing later paint layers to uncover the historic decoration beneath.

Decorative painters Mariah Gillis, Susan Crawford, Elena Hutchings, Bridget Cimino and Doug Johnson have recreated missing portions of the decoration, particularly in the Parlor. Mariah has been especially astute in determining how color was used on the damaged ceiling, helping guide its restoration.

Their work allows visitors to see and understand details that had been concealed or lost. It also provided a remarkable setting in which to consider a new painting.

A Painting for the Thompson Breakfast Room

The commission began with an on-site meeting with the team, looking closely at the room and its furnishings: the Scalamandré window treatments, hand-printed Adelphi wallpaper and the surrounding colors and patterns. I took photographs and studied the space before returning to Florida to paint.

Henri Fantin-Latour’s floral paintings were a point of reference. I was drawn to their sense of arrangement, the weight of the flowers and the way they emerge from the surrounding space. I wanted my painting to feel at home in this room while retaining my own hand and approach.

At roughly 36 inches tall by 28 inches wide, the painting needed to hold its place among the room’s decorative elements. The hand-carved, gold-leaf frame became an important part of that relationship, connecting the painting to its setting.

Working from my photographs and observations back in Florida, I considered the composition, palette and scale together. Painting for a particular room asks you to think beyond the canvas—to consider how the work will be seen alongside textiles, wallpaper, furniture and changing light.

A Family Connection

My father, Henry P. Johnson, has spent his career as an interior designer. Having him involved in Clifton’s restoration made this commission particularly meaningful. It gave us an opportunity to bring our separate practices into the same room, with his attention to interiors and mine to painting.

There is something lovely about creating a work in my Florida studio that now has a permanent home in Baltimore.

From Baltimore to My Delray Studio

This commission also connects to a broader part of my practice: making paintings with a particular person or place in mind. Alongside my florals and large figurative work, I accept portrait commissions, including seated portraits.

Portraiture brings a different kind of attention to the studio—the physical presence of a person, their posture, expression and the way they occupy space. Those concerns run through my figurative paintings as well, where gesture and the physical act of painting shape the image.

Clients interested in a portrait or a painting for a particular interior are welcome to contact me through Amanda James Gallery. Studio visits in Delray Beach are by appointment.

Thank you to Henry Hopkins, my father and the entire Clifton team for welcoming my work into the Thompson Breakfast Room, and to the conservators and decorative painters whose skill has brought so much of the house’s decoration back into view.