Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
A2007.7.1 |
Title |
Ed Johnson |
Artist |
Yuster, Sarah |
Date |
2005 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Other Name |
oil |
Description |
This painting by Staten Island-based artist Sarah Yuster was part of her solo exhibition Habitats, Biophiles and Beasts, at the Staten Island Museum in 2006. The exhibition featured portraits of contemporary scientists, naturalists, and researchers, such as E.O. Wilson and Neil deGrasse Tyson. She also exhibited several portraits of local scientists, including this portrait of then-Science Curator Edward Johnson at his desk in the Museum's attic at 75 Stuyvesant Place in St. George. For much of the 20th century, the Museum's Science Department was based out of the attic with both the collections and workspace throughout. The attic has strong associations within the local naturalist community and the history of the Museum. Ed Johnson's Statement: 2007 I have always had an interest in the natural world. I started out as a dinosaur nut. By the time I was 11 or so, that had changed to a general interest in animals. I didn't care much about mammals or birds, but was a fanatic about reptiles and amphibians. By the time I was 17, I had gotten a job as a volunteer in the reptile wing at the Staten Island Zoo, truly the promised land for a teenage reptile nut. My tiny bedroom at home was crammed with cages of snakes, frogs and turtles. At the zoo, I became friends with Bob Zappalorti, one of the reptile keepers, who would be instrumental in shaping my later life. As a young adult, I realized that I knew a lot about reptiles, but nothing about birds, plants and other organisms. So I taught my self to identify birds, wildflowers, ferns, insects and all the rest. In short, I became a naturalist. From the time I was very young, it was clear that I had the collecting gene. It started out with rocks and shells, which I collected locally or while on family vacations. Coins and stamps were also part of the mix, as were monster magazines and cards, comic books, you name it. According to my mother, I never threw anything out. As an adult, the collecting urge was funneled into minerals, fossils, and keeping a Life List of birds. So now we have a native Staten Island naturalist with a talent for identifying, collecting and arranging natural objects, in need of a job. What better place to be than the Staten Island Museum, where one can be immersed in the legacy left by William T. Davis, Arthur Hollick, Nathaniel Lord Britton, Charles W. Leng, and all the rest? So in the fall of 1982 I answered an ad for the perfect job in the Staten Island Advance, got hired, and the rest, as they say, is (natural) history. |
Collection |
Painting |
Dimensions |
H-24 W-24 inches |
Credit line |
Museum Purchase, 2007 |
Material |
Oil on masonite |
Relation |
Show Related Records... |
People |
Yuster, Sarah |
Search Terms |
attic Ed desk window |
Catalog type |
Art |
Source |
Sarah Yuster |
Web Rights |
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/ |