George Johnson (artist)

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George Henry Johnson (born 18 August 1926) is a New Zealand artist who made his name in Australia.

Artistic career[]

Early career[]

Johnson studied art under the emigre artist Theo Schoon, who confirmed an early commitment to modernist art, especially Geometric Abstraction.

He graduated from Wellington Technical College in 1947.

George took influence from Dutch De Stijl, otherwise known as Neoplasticism. This Dutch art movement was based around architecturally structured pieces, similar to how you may view many of Johnson's works. Growing up, this artistic influence was significant as it was at the height of its popularity during Johnson's most impressionable years.

Move to Australia[]

Johnson decided to relocate to Melbourne, Australia, in 1951 where he was soon drawn into contemporary art circles, mixing with Leonard French, Roger Kemp, Inge King, Julius Kane, Peter Graham, Clement Meadmore and others. He held his first solo exhibition there at the age of 30 in 1956, a selection of boldly geometric abstractions which set the art scene buzzing. By this time he was sharing a studio with French and the pair experienced increasing friction from the Heide Circle. This comprised a rival group of figurative modernists who were still trying to control the Contemporary Art Society, including Arthur Boyd, John Perceval, Charles Blackman and Robert Dickerson. The latter artists eventually formed the Antipodeans Group, staging an exhibition in August 1959, initially to make a stand against Johnson, French, Kemp and a growing number of non-objectivist followers, although increasingly to express their opposition to American Abstract Expressionism which they feared was about to overwhelm Australian art. To this day, his commit to the Charles Nodrum Gallery is admirable, celebrating over 30 years since his first exhibition with the Richmond based gallery. Even at 92 years old, his pieces are still featured within many exhibitions and remain nationally celebrated

Johnson has remained unwaveringly committed to geometric abstraction in the many decades since, producing paintings that are stylistically and intellectually indebted to Russian Constructivism.

Family[]

Johnson was the father of noted Pasifika artist , and the brother of poet and author Louis Johnson.

Bibliography[]

• Johnson, George H. 'Art and the World Around Us: An Essay on Experimental Art', Parent and Child (Wellington, N.Z.) Vol. 3, No. 6, August 1957.
• Johnson, George H. 'Art Education: A Viewpoint', Art Craft Teachers' Association Magazine, (Victoria) No. 16, August 1973
• Zimmer, Jenny, George Johnson and ineluctable abstraction, Art and Australia Vol 24, No.2, Summer 1986.
• McCulloch, Allan, Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Hutchinson, Melbourne 1987.
• Heathcote, Christopher & Zimmer, Jenny, George Johnson: World View, Macmillan Publishers Australia, Melbourne 2006.

See also[]

• Art of Australia

External links[]

• George Johnson at the Charles Nodrum Gallery
• Mount of the Blue Triangle 1986 at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery