Johnston had much in common with
these artists. Like them, in the years before World War I he used his
spare time to pursue landscape painting, through sketching trips around
Toronto and farther north to Bon Echo near Algonquin Park and to Hearst,
north of Lake Superior -- a source of inspiration for him. An eager
participant in Group activities, Johnston went on all the Algoma trips
except the last. Johnston did not use the techniques of Harris and
MacDonald but,employing tempera rather than oil paint, he searched out
the pattern and texture of his subject. The effect is more linear and
decorative than that of his fellow artists, yet Johnston's paintings
show the viewer the subtle colour relationships and interplay of forms
in the foliage, rocks, and sky.
Johnston exhibited with The Group of
Seven only once, in their first show in May of 1920. A man of staggering
energy and enthusiasm, Johnston had an amazing rate of production. In
the 1919 Algoma show he contributed sixty works - more than any other
artist. In the fall of 1921, Johnston left Toronto to accept the
position as principal of the Winnipeg School of Art. There he held the
largest show ever seen in that city. He had been slowly moving away from
the Group movement, and now the break was complete. In 1924, he
announced his official resignation, claiming that he had no disagreement
with the group, only that he wanted to go his own way with regards to
exhibitions.
In 1927, he changed his name from Frank Johnston to Franz Johnston.
Franz Johnston (June
19, 1888 – July 19, 1949)
