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.
Passing Crowd Signed Lithograph, 1980, Figurative Expressionist, Fashion
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
PASSING CROWD is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% acid free, full bleed image, no margins. In PASSING CROWD, a group of fashionable city women and men walking...
Lithograph
Frontal Street Scene
By Lester Johnson
Located in San Francisco, CA
This lithograph is immediately identifiable as the work of Lester Johnson (1919-2010) . The print is titled “Frontal Street Scene.” It was published in 1970 by Collector’s Press. Th...
Lithograph
$540Sale Price|20% Off
CITY VENUS Signed Lithograph, Men Women Walking, Sheath Dress, Peach Brown Pink
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY VENUS is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% ac...
Lithograph
Street Scene 4
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson Title: Street Scene 4 Medium: Lithograph Signed: Hand Signed Edition: Edition of 175 Measurements: 29" x 21" Year: 1978 Note: This piece is sold UNFRAMED Con...
Lithograph
CITY SCENE
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester (American, 1919-2010). CITY SCENE. Lithograph, 1970. Edition of 20. Signed in pencil and numbered "3/20." 19 1/4 x 30 inches (image/sheet),...
Lithograph
"Three Seated Men" original etching signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present aquatint is an excellent example of the multifigural works of Lester Johnson. The print presents the viewer with three seated figures, their...
Etching, Aquatint
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: New York Dancers (5) Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 175 Image Size: 25 x 18 inches ...
Lithograph
STREET SCENE Signed Hand Drawn Lithograph 1980, Figurative Expressionism
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
STREET SCENE is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% acid free. In STREET SCEN...
Lithograph
$900
CITY GRACES Signed Lithograph 1980, Modern Figurative Print, Fashion Portrait
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GRACES is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% a...
Lithograph
GROUP WALKING 1982 NYC Exhibition Poster, Fashionable Women Auburn Hair
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
LESTER JOHNSON 1982 NYC Vintage Art Exhibition Poster Print Size - 25.25 x 29.5 inches, unframed, excellent condition, unsigned Image size - 18.5 x 23 inches Year published - 1982 GROUP WALKING is a vintage fine art exhibition poster by the American expressionist painter LESTER JOHNSON. It was created in 1982 in conjunction with the gallery exhibition of Johnson's paintings at Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery NYC. GROUP WALKING was printed in color offset lithography on high quality 80 lb. satin finish paper in soft pastel shades of pale peach, orange, pink, brown, green, muted navy blue, gray, black and white. GROUP WALKING is a modern figurative portrait depicting four fashionable women with auburn hair dressed in multicolored print sheath dresses and one young man wearing a navy blue Yankees cap smoking his cigarette in the background as they pass each other on a city street. As a figurative expressionist and member of the Second Generation of the New York School, painter Lester Johnson(1919-2010) remained dedicated to the human figure as means of expression through the many stylistic changes of his oeuvre. Johnson exhibited his art at the Martha Jackson Gallery, Zabriskie Gallery...
Offset
CITY GRACES Signed Lithograph, Group Portrait, Peach, Yellow, Brown, Plum
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GRACES is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper 1...
Lithograph
$560Sale Price|20% Off
NY SCENE Signed Lithograph, Contemporary Group Portrait, Women, Yankees Cap
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
NY SCENE is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Somerset printmaking p...
Lithograph
City Group Signed Lithograph, Figurative Expressionism, 1980, 28x22"
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GROUP is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper 10...
Lithograph
DaVinci Tee Threesome, Signed Lithograph, Figurative Portrait, 1980
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
DaVinci Tee Threesome is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson(1919-2010). DaVinci Tee Threesome was printed using hand lithogr...
Lithograph
"Untitled - LJ #53, " Lithograph signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Untitled - LJ#53" is an original color lithograph by Lester Johnson. The artist signed the piece in the lower center and also wrote the edition number,...
Lithograph
New York Dancers 4, Pop Art Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: New York Dancers 4 Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 1...
Lithograph
Close Up, Pop Art Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: Close Up Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 175 Paper Size: 28 ...
Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: New York Dancers (7) Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition:...
Lithograph
Three Women, Signed Modern Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: Three Women Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 175, HC 25 Pa...
Lithograph
Group Scene Slacks
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson Title: Group Scene Slacks Medium: Lithograph Signed: Hand Signed Edition: Edition of 175 Measurements: 29" x 21" Year: 1979 Note: This piece is sold UNFRAMED ...
Lithograph
$850
PASSING CROWD Signed Lithograph, Women Walking, Man in Hard Hat, Zigzag Dress
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
PASSING CROWD(Hard Hat) is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES ...
Lithograph
$3,480
'Street Scene With Man & Women' original silkscreen signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblematic...
Screen
MEN IN STREET
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester. MEN IN STREET #2. Etching in colors, 1973. Edition of 35, numbered 33/35, titled, and signed in pencil. 19 1/2 x 25 inches, 494 x 635 mm. (plate); 25 x 31 inches,...
Etching
$1,100
CLOSE UP Hand Drawn Lithograph Closeup Crowd Portrait Blondie T-Shirt, Cigarette
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CLOSE UP is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% acid...
Lithograph
$3,480
'Street Scene With Building #2' original silkscreen signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblematic...
Screen
Street Scene, Framed Pop Art Screenprint by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
A New York City street scene by Lester Johnson circa 1980. Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: Street Scene Year: circa 1980 Medium: ...
Screen
Da Vinci's Restaurant, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson Title: DaVinci's Restaurant Year: 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150 Paper Size: 28 x 21 inches
Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010) Title: New York Dancers (3) Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 1...
Lithograph
$1,440Sale Price|20% Off
Girls Walking State 3
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson Girls Walking State 3 etching 1986. Designated edition number 8 of 21 in pencil lower left recto. Signed in pencil "Lester Johnson" lower right recto.
Etching, Aquatint, Intaglio
Street Scene White Dress
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson Title: Street Scene White Dress Medium: Lithograph Signed: Hand Signed Edition: From the edition of 175 Measurements: 29" x 21" Year: 1980 Note: This piece is...
Lithograph
$3,480
'Two Women & Man With Band T-Shirt' original screenprint by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features three figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblemati...
Screen
"Street Scene #1" original silkscreen print signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashiona...
Screen