Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson's art echoes the classical respect for strong skillful drawing and the foundation of good painting.
Robert Johnson was born in Hopewell, Virginia. His mother loved to paint and his older brother, a painter distinguished in the field of art conservation (served as Director of Conservation for the Los Angeles County Museum) was a mentor to Robert.
Robert had an instinctive love of art from an early age. He graduated from Duke on a football scholarship, however, and became a lawyer while keeping up with drawing and painting. His love of art motivated him to move to Europe where he spent two years working on his artistic skills and travelling extensively to see the best art.
After returning to the US and spending several years juggling the demands and conflicts of two diverging careers he sought the advice of prominent painter and instructor Frank Wright. While Wright was critiquing Robert's drawings, Robert asked, "From what you see, can I be a real artist?" Wright wisely replied "I like your drawings, but you must realize that you will never know how good an artist you can become until art gets the very best from you - your primary attention, your highest energies, your best working time." The advice stuck. Soon Robert turned over his law practice to his partner and began an extended period of study at the Art Students League of NY where he studied painting with David Leffel and drawing with Robert Beverly Hale and Michael Burban. Robert loved the painting tradition of the Art Students League and the wonderful opportunities to draw at all hours of the day and night. He also studied sculpture with Barney Hodes. He later taught at the Art Students League and remains a lifetime member.
He topped off his training with study in the studio of Lajos Markos, a Hungarian master who at the time had his studio in Houston Texas. The influence of Markos - especially the brushwork - are clearly visible in the paintings of Robert today.
Throughout his training he received the constant mentoring and support of his older brother who encouraged him and tutored him on the materials and techniques of the masters in the paintings he was working on or evaluating for acquisition by the museum.
Since becoming a full-time painter in 1987 Robert has won numerous first place national awards, including six awards from the Oil Painters of America (OPA). In 2017 he was awarded the status of "Master" by OPA. In 2020 he won First Place from the Portrait Society of America, Plein Air, Members Show. He has had twenty one-man shows in private galleries throughout the US. He teaches painting workshops throughout the US and Canada and has produced seven instructional videos. He is the author of On Becoming a Painter (Sunflower Press, 2001) in which he explores his experiences in becoming an artist and his thoughts on the fundamentals of the painting process. His work has also been featured in numerous other books including the Best of Flower Painting II (North Light Books) and The Simple Secret to Better Painting (North Light Books, 2003). He is also a featured artist in a book published in 2014 by North Light Books - Oil Painting with the Masters by Cindy Salaski.
He divides his time between studios in Virginia and New Mexico.
