Lester JohnsonGirls Walking State 3
About the Item
- Creator:Lester Johnson (1919 - 2010, American)
- Dimensions:Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1827211320962
Lester Johnson
A New York artist, known as a second-generation Abstract Expressionist, Lester Johnson was born to a large Lutheran family in Minneapolis. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art and the St. Paul Art School. There, he was introduced to Hans Hofmann's teaching approach, particularly the push and pull effects of form and color by St. Paul teachers Alexander Masley and Cameron Booth, both of whom had studied with Hofmann in Munich. After further study at the Chicago Art Institute, Johnson moved to New York City in 1947 and became one of the first downtown loft-dwellers. He shared a lower East Side studio with Larry Rivers and attended some of Hofmann's New York classes. Rents were cheap, but Johnson was broke much of the time as he tried to support his painting through a variety of part-time jobs, including teaching art. In 1950, he and realist figurative painter Philip Pearlstein shared studio space. Lester's wife, Jo, had introduced the two artists at a time when she and Pearlstein were studying art history at New York University.
Johnson's various studios, on the Bowery and elsewhere, were always one flight up with a view of Manhattan's active street life. No wonder, for over 50 years, street scenes have been a dominant part of his art. Johnson adopted the working techniques of action painting, which meant he used a great deal of paint. A tube of oil paint might be expended in seconds as he, like Pollock, physically projected himself into the work. The images that Johnson produced were not decorative, but stubbornly confrontational, oversize, brooding, thickly encrusted, scarred surfaces that were alive with recognizable objects and figures. Even today, few realize how radical it was for Johnson to depict a recognizable subject in an adamantly pro-abstract-expressionist climate. Sculptor George Segal recalled, "The Abstract Expressionists were legislating any reference to the physical world totally out of art. This was outrageous to us." The rebellion came naturally to Lester Johnson, and he remained tenaciously outside the mainstream. Nonetheless, he produced a body of work that influenced several generations of younger painters and confounded an art establishment in need of neat categorization. He remains one of the few painters whose work holds significance for both abstract and figurative artists. Johnson's animated men and women, with all their nervous energy, yield themselves only gradually to analysis and will no doubt be reinterpreted for many years to come.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Explicit ExplanationBy Nancy SperoLocated in New York, NYNancy Spero Explicit Explanation 1998 published in an edition of 25. Printed from a type high zinc relief plate. Screen printing was used for the text.Category
1990s Feminist Figurative Prints
MaterialsPrinter's Ink, Screen
- Texas Sunday BlueLocated in New York, NYMelvin Edwards screenprint Texas Sunday Blue from 1991 measuring 42 by 30 inches. Printed and published by Procuniar Workshop in an edition of 30.Category
1990s Other Art Style Figurative Prints
MaterialsScreen
- Carriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ( Sellier Carossier )By Denis DiderotLocated in New York, NYCarriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers, par une societe de gens de lettres. edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond ...Category
Late 18th Century French School More Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching, Intaglio
- Carriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ( Sellier Carossier )By Denis DiderotLocated in New York, NYCarriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers, par une societe de gens de lettres. edited ...Category
Late 18th Century French School More Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching, Intaglio
- Carriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ( Sellier Carossier )By Denis DiderotLocated in New York, NYCarriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers, par une societe de gens de lettres. edited ...Category
Late 18th Century French School More Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching, Intaglio
- Carriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ( Sellier Carossier )By Denis DiderotLocated in New York, NYCarriage engraving from the Encyclopedie ou Dictionnaire raisonne des sciences, des arts et des metiers, par une societe de gens de lettres. edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond ...Category
Late 18th Century French School More Prints
MaterialsEngraving, Etching, Intaglio
- Two Men on a Red Background - Original Handsigned Etching / 99exBy Dado (Miodrag Djuric)Located in Paris, FRDado (Miodrag Djuric called) (1933-2010) Two Men on a Red Background Original etching and aquatint Handsigned in pencil Numbered / 99 ex On Arches vellum 76 x 56 cm (c. 30 x 22 inch...Category
1990s Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsAquatint, Etching
- Automne (Autumn)By Georges RouaultLocated in Storrs, CTAutomne (Autumn). 1938. Aquatint print in colors. Chapon/Rouault 288C. 19 1/2 x 25 1/2 ( sheet 22 5/8 x 30 3/4). Edition 175, #58. Published by Vollard. A rich impression with brigh...Category
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsAquatint, Color
- American Modernist "Feast of Pure Reason" Aquatint Mezzotint Etching WPA ArtistBy Jack LevineLocated in Surfside, FLJack Levine, American, 1915–2010 The Feast of Pure Reason, 1970 Etching, mezzotint and aquatint on copper in black ink. 20 w. 25 in., sight overall: 27 x 31.75 in., matted. Depict...Category
1970s Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsMezzotint, Etching, Aquatint
- Market in GrodekBy Emil OrlikLocated in New York, NYEmil Orlik (1870-1932), Market in Grodek, etching and aquatint, 1898, signed in pencil lower right, in very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark and so with a small ...Category
1890s Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
- Abschied (Parting)By Emil NoldeLocated in New York, NYEmil Nolde (1876-1956), Abschied (Parting), etching and aquatint (tonal effects), 1906, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Schiefler/Mosel 20, third state (of 3). One of only...Category
Early 1900s Expressionist Figurative Prints
MaterialsEtching, Aquatint
- Of Youth —after Gustav Mahler's 'The Song of the Earth'Located in Myrtle Beach, SCArthur Paunzen, 'Von der Jugend' (Of Youth) from the suite 'Song of the Earth', etching, aquatint, and drypoint, 1920. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream, wove Japan paper; the full sheet with margins (2 1/4 to 4 1/4 inches), in good condition. Image size 12 1/4 x 9 1/16 inches; sheet size 19 3/4 x 13 5/8 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK Pauzen’s suite of six etchings 'Das Lied von der Erde' (The Song of the Earth), published in 1920, was inspired by Gustav Mahler...Category
1920s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints
MaterialsEtching, Drypoint, Aquatint