Drowned Land, Algoma, 1918 by Frank Johnston

Description

Giclee prints on Canvas or Paper of Drowned Land, Algoma, 1918 by Frank Johnston

Frank (Franz) Johnston was born on June 19, 1888 in Toronto. Like many other Group members, he joined Grip Engraving Co. as a commercial artist. He studied in Germany from 1904 to 1907. Although his official association with the Group of Seven was brief, his friendship with the artists dated back over a much longer period. In 1910, he left for the United States where he studied art in Philadelphia and worked in commercial design in New York. Although an original member of the Group, Johnston’s association was brief.

He did take part in the Group’s first exhibition of 1920, but by 1921 he had left Toronto to become Principal at the Winnipeg School of Art. In the earlier years of their friendship, Johnston had joined MacDonald and Harris on their journeys to Algoma. His paintings from those years express a strong decorative interpretation of the landscape. In later years, the artist’s style became more realistic and revealed a strong fascination with the qualities of light. His landscape paintings became very full of images reflected on water.In 1927, Johnston changed his name to the more exotic title of `Franz’ Johnston. He painted over 250 paintings in his entire career.