- 73
Frank (Franz) Hans Johnston 1888 - 1949
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 CAD
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Description
- Frank (Franz) Hans Johnston
- Untitled - Shoreline
- signed Frank H. Johnston lower left; dated circa 1923 on a label
- oil on board
- 26.5 by 33.3 cm.
- 10 3/8 by 13 in.
Provenance
Mrs. M. Shiel, Vancouver
Warwick Gallery Ltd., Vancouver
Mr. and Mrs. Don MacPherson, Regina
Private Collection, Regina
Warwick Gallery Ltd., Vancouver
Mr. and Mrs. Don MacPherson, Regina
Private Collection, Regina
Exhibited
Regina Collects, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, September 7 - October 21, 1984, no. 47
Literature
Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina Collects, Regina, 1984, pp 25-26, no. 47, reproduced in colour.
Catalogue Note
One can never discount Johnston’s uncanny ability to surprise and delight, as he has done here in this simple scene. From time to time, his work veers into the easy or the slick, largely because his facility and truly astounding technique get him by, even when his subject is maudlin or trite.
In the treatment of a landscape like this, however, Johnston rises to the occasion by subduing the urge to be flashy and has, instead, provided us with a fully-orchestrated rendition: the foreground stretch of water, which shimmers but not too brightly; the long, thin, but fully worked strip of forest, which seems to have the light behind it; and the magnificent sky, with its low gray clouds and the mottled and creamy clouds still wonderfully lit by the setting sun.
This is a perfect portrait done at a time when Johnston was completely in synch with the strongest values and aims of the Group of Seven.