John Young Johnstone
(1887 - 1930)
Canadian, Art Association of Montreal, RCA , Beaver Hall Group, Pen and Pencil Club
John Young Johnstone (1855-1930) was a Canadian painter known for his landscape and genre paintings. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on November 12, 1887.
Johnstone received his early artistic training with artist William Brimer and the Art Association of Montreal. Later, the painter continued his studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris with Lucius Simon and Emile-René Ménard. In Paris, where he shared a studio with Adrien Hébert, he painted several small cityscapes and Impressionist landscapes in the French countryside, Switzerland and Belgium. Back in Canada, he chose life in Quebec as his subject of observation.
John Young Johnstone's paintings attracted attention in 1911, when his work was first exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal.
His work was also exhibited intermittently at the Art Association of Montreal until 1925, as well as at the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, of which he was admitted as an associate member in 1920. The painter exhibited regularly at the Academy from 1915 to 1923. He was part of the Pen and Pencil Club and the Beaver Hall group,
Johnstone's work is characterized by his love of nature and his paintings often depict landscapes and rural scenes from Quebec and Ontario. He was particularly drawn to the forests, rivers and lakes of the Canadian wilderness, and his work often depicts the natural beauty of these settings in a way that emphasizes the serenity and tranquility of the landscape.
Johnstone was a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and his work has been widely exhibited in Canada and the United States. Johnstone taught at various art schools, including the National Monument, the Arts Club, and the Women's Art Association. Johnstone was, however, "expelled" from the Montreal Arts Club in 1928.
In 1929, Johnstone traveled to Cuba to escape the harsh Canadian winters and paint the tropical landscapes. Unfortunately, he died shortly after arriving in Havana on January 24, 1930.
Today, Johnstone's work is in collections around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. . His contributions to the development of Canadian art continue to be celebrated and he remains an important figure in the history of Canadian painting.
ARTWORK OF JOHN Y. JOHNSTONE FOR SALE