Artist Francis [Franz] Hans Johnston
Title Algoma Canyon
Media oil on wood board
Dated
ca. 1919
Size 13.25 x 9.25 in. / 33.7 x 23.5 cm.
Frame Size 19 x 15 x 2.25 in.
Sold $12,000
Estimate $20,000 - $25,000
Notes
signed lower left; bears title and date on gallery labels verso; bears inscription 'Franz Johnston - Given to Jessie Stewart in return for her teaching him Batik' verso; framed
Reference
Traveling to Algoma in 1919, Frank H. Johnston accompanied Lawren Harris, JEH MacDonald and Dr. James McCallum to a beautiful region of northern Ontario. The edges of the lakes and rivers moved the artists to create some of their finest canvases.
Johnston's work from this trip caught the interplay of light, shadow and pattern in the woods in a decorative style, with an emphasis on flat planes of colour.
Painted during this expedition, the Algoma Canyon oil on board was signed after Frank changed his name to Franz about 1926. The artist received advice from a numerologist friend in New York that the name Frank would never bring him success. His canvases from then on were signed Franz Johnston. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection exhibits Johnston's from 1919 that are signed in the same way, bearing the Franz signature.
Provenance
Loch Gallery, Winnipeg, Canadian Fine Arts, Toronto and Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver, labels verso
Biographical Information
Francis [Franz] Hans Johnston ~ [1888-1949] Canadian CSPWC, OSA, RCA
see A Grand Eye for Glory, A Life of Franz Johnston, by R.Burford Mason, Dundurn Press, 1998; Paul Rodrik / Frank H. Johnston, published by Champlain College, Trent University, 1973; biography and other examples in N.G.C. Vol.2, G-K, ed.C.Hill, pg.347; A.G.O., by the A.G.O., pg.222; Art Collection of McMaster University, by K.Ness, pg.238; R.C.A.A., by E.McMann, pg.212; Dict. of Canadian Artists, by C.MacDonald, Vol.3, pg.566; Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction, by A.Westbridge, Vol.2, pg.80, Westbridge Pub., 2000; listed on Artists in Canada, a Union List of Artists' Files, by National Gallery of Canada Library et al, Canadian Heritage Information Network [CHIN] website