War Art
Franz Johnston
September 1, 2001, by Jennifer Morse
During World War I, Franz Johnston painted endless skyscapes. Miniature airplanes lift and circle through watercolour clouds and the artist manages to defy gravity with every stroke. He is a master of perspective and if you could step into his canvas surely you would drop for miles.
Johnston was born in Toronto in 1888 and studied art in the U.S. He was one of the original members of the Group of Seven and sustained a demanding career, exhibiting constantly in galleries and exhibitions all over the world. Prolific in every endeavour, Johnston was a firecracker.
He returned to Canada just before WW I and was invited to accept a commission to paint the life of the men of the Royal Flying Corps at their training camps in Ontario. Although he was working full time, he sketched dozens of ideas throughout the summer and by September was commissioned as an official war artist by the Canadian War Memorials. In November 1918, Johnston received permission to go up for first hand experience and he described the flight as a mix of poetry and terror. In spite of his fear of flying those sketches made from above inspired some of our finest war art.
After the war Johnston became curator of the Art Gallery of Winnipeg. Later he returned to Toronto to teach at the Ontario College of Art and established a summer school at Tondakea on Georgian Bay. He would live and paint there for a large part of his remaining life.
Johnston had to seek no farther than Canada to find the source of his greatest inspiration. He loved our vast land in all its rugged beauty and to this day Canadians return the sentiment. He died in 1949 in Toronto.
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Many of the Canadian War Museum’s holdings are available in reproduction at affordable prices. For more information, contact Image Reproduction Services, Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa, ON K1R 0C2; tel: 1-819-776-8686; fax: 1-819-776-8623; e-mail: Imageservices@warmuseum.ca
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