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Sigrid Freundorfer Fine Art

New York

Lester F. Johnson

(American, 1919–2010)

six heads by lester f. johnson

Lester F. Johnson

Six Heads, 1977

Price on Request

untitled (provincetown) by lester f. johnson

Lester F. Johnson

Untitled (Provincetown), 1951

Price on Request

self-portrait (red & blue) by lester f. johnson

Lester F. Johnson

Self-Portrait (Red & Blue), 1967

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Biography

Timeline

1919
Lester Johnson was born in 1919 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the youngest of seven and grandchild of Swedish Homesteaders. After studying at the Minneapolis School of Art, and the St. Paul Art School, he came to New York City in 1947. His first studio (and home) was next door to Wolf Kahn on 6th Street and Avenue A, followed by a loft on St. Mark’s Place which he shared with Larry Rivers. He married Josephine Valenti, an art historian, in 1949, and moved into a house on 2nd Ave and 2nd Street – which was shared, again, with Wolf Kahn. After moving uptown, he continued to work downtown, in a studio on 222 Bowery. In 1961, he briefly left the city for an artist-in-residence position at Ohio State. After returning, and while sharing a studio on 10th St. with Philip Pearlstein, he was invited by Jack Tworkov to teach at Yale. He accepted and he and his wife, with their two children moved to Milford, CT, where he taught and continued to paint in a studio behind their house. Summers were spent in Springs, Long Island (where Lester and Jo bought property in 1955), throughout his time at Yale as well as after moving to Greenwich, CT. Johnson died in Southampton in 2010.
1939
Alfred Pillsbury Scholarship
1940 - 1941
The President’s Scholarship, Minneapolis School of Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN
1941
St. Paul Gallery Scholarship
1942 - 1947
Studied at the Minneapolis School of Art, St. Paul Art School, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1942
Longview Fellowship Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Midwestern Artists Competition 1st prize
1947
Came to New York
1964 - 1989
Professor (Adjunct) of Painting, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1964
Summer Aritist-In-Residence, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

Exhibitions

1998
Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1996
Peter Findlay Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
Denise Cade Gallery in association with Joseph Rickards Fine Art, New York, NY (solo)
UFO Gallery, Provincetown, MA (solo)
1995
Editions, Skoto Gallery, New York, NY
Editions 1974-1991, Pharos Gallery, New York, NY
The Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
1994
Edward Thorp Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
1991
A Print Retrospective 1960-1990, Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT (solo)
1990
Gimpel & Weitzenhoffer Gallery, New York, NY (solo)
English (US)

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