Amy Johnson

1 portrait

Amy Johnson

by Sir John Longstaff
oil on canvas, circa 1930
27 1/4 in. x 22 1/2 in. (692 mm x 572 mm)
Given by L.C. Sedon-Thompson, 1961
Primary Collection
NPG 4201

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Amy Johnson (later Mollison) (1903-1941), Airwoman. Sitter in 21 portraits.

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Sir John Longstaff (1862-1941), Painter. Artist of 1 portrait, Sitter in 1 portrait.

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The daughter of a Hull herring-importer, Amy Johnson trained as a secretary, but developed a consuming passion for flying. With no more experience than a flight from London to Hull, on 5 May 1930 she set out to fly solo to Australia in a tiny Gipsy Moth and landed in Port Darwin nineteen days later. Though not a record time, her flight was an astonishing achievement and aroused universal enthusiasm. Other record long-distance flights followed including a flight to New York in 1933 with her husband J.A. Mollinson. In 1939 Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and in 1941 was lost, presumed dead, over the Thames estuary. Given by L.C. Sedon-Thompson, 1961.