Isabelle Johnson
Isabelle Johnson, (b. 1901 – d. 1992) was a modernist painter and noted as one of the first modernist painters in Montana.[1][2]
She studied painting and sculpture at Columbia University and was selected in 1946 by Henry Varnum to participate in the first class of his experimental Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. Afterward she moved back to her home in Stillwater County Montana, where she began working as one of the first modernist artists in the state. Inspired by the French Post-Impressionists, and how they saw color. She spent most of her life painting the Stillwater River Valley and the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains.[1]
Johnson taught at Montana State University Billings, and served as department head from 1954 to 1961.[3]
The Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, Montana, owns 827 Johnson-related works in its permanent collection, the majority of which were donated by Johnson.[3]
Bibliography
- Johnson, Isabelle (1971). Paintings, Isabelle Johnson. Great Falls, Montana: C.M. Russell Museum.
- Johnson, Isabelle (1986). Isabelle Johnson: a retrospective. Billings, Montana: Yellowstone Art Center.
- Johnson, Isabelle; Bennett, Drew; Peterson, Robyn G.; Durden, Bob; Forbes, Donna M.; Vettel-Becker, Patricia; Halstead, Peter; Waddell, Theodore (2015). A Lonely Business: Isabelle Johnson's Montana.
References
- 1 2 McConnell, Gordon (2005). Making Connections. Billings, Montana: Yellowstone Art Museum. p. 20. ISBN 0-332-46546-2.
- ↑ "Rebel artist Isabelle Johnson bucked tradition, introduced modernism to students". Billings Gazette. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- 1 2 Webb, Jaci (December 1, 2014). "YAM at 50: Tough Montanan led double life as modernist painter". Billings Gazette.