Born:Born on June 19, 1888 in Toronto, OntarioDied, July 9th, 1949. Born to a modest family of which he was the middle son of 3. Hans Hamilton Johnston (his father) was an Irish immigrant and a painter on the staff of the old Toronto city hall. Elizabeth Roderick (his mother) was of Scottish descent. Until the age of 20, Johnston lived in a small house at 121 Shaw Street between Bathurst and Duffrin. As a child the artist showed interest in the arts early and was encouraged by his parents. He was a popular and talented youth, active in sports, music and the arts and had a fascination with nature from an early age LIFE & WORK: 1904- Apprenticed as a designer with Toronto jewellers Ryrie Brothers 1906- Worked as a catalogue illustrator at Brigdens Ltd. took classes at the Central Technical School and The Ontario College of Art (Under William Cruikshank and G. A. Reid) 1908- Moved from Brigdens to Grip Ltd. (Toronto graphic design studio specializing in the Art Nouveau Style) Here 5 of the 7 founding members of the Group of Seven met; Johnston, Fred Varley, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Franklin Carmichael. 1910- Married Elizabeth Graves Simcoe Joined Arts and Letters Club in Toronto Joined Christian Science religion and remained a devoted follower 1910-11 Exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists 1912- Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 1915- Commissioned as a war artist in with the War Memorials project 1918-22- Made 4 annual Algoma boxcar expeditions with Lawren Harris & J.E.H. MacDonald in the fall of each year 1919- Exhibition of Algoma work at the Grange, Toronto Began using tempera as his main medium 1920’s- Taught at the Ontario College of Art where his students included Franklin Arbuckle 1920- First exhibition of newly formed Group of Seven at the Grange First independent exhibition at Eaton’s Gallery 1921- Became the principle and director of the gallery at the school of art in Winnipeg 1922-23- Solo show at the Winnipeg Art Gallery 1924- Began a regular column, “Talks on Art” in the Winnipeg Mirror Returned to Toronto & resumed teaching at Ontario College of Art Left the Group of Seven to exhibit independently 1924-26 Regular exhibitions at Roberts Gallery, Eaton’s Gallery and Robert Simpson’s 1926- Changed his name to Franz Johnston 1931- Begins summer school for artists at Tondakea Lodge at Balm Beach, near Midland, Ontario 1930’s- Made many trips to the north & exhibited these northern works in the mid to late 30’s 1939- Made the trip to Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories where he spent 5 months working |
