Frank Tenney Johnson (June 26, 1874 – January 1, 1939) was a
painter of the
Old American West, and he popularized a style of painting
cowboys which became known as "The Johnson Moonlight Technique". ''Somewhere on the Range'' is an example of Johnson's moonlight technique. To paint his paintings he used knives, fingers and brushes.
Early life
Johnson was born in
Pottawattamie County, Iowa
Pottawattamie County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. At the 2020 census, the population was 93,667, making it the tenth-most populous county in Iowa. The county takes its name from the Potawatomi Native American tribe. The cou ...
to Abner Johnson and Cordelia Rebecca Tenney. He was raised on his family's farm along the old
Overland Trail, near Big Grove, Iowa (now known as
Oakland, Iowa) in the Council Bluffs area, where his father raised cattle. Johnson's early American ancestors were from England, Ireland, Wales, Denmark and Sweden. His Bascom ancestors were French Basque. Johnson's mother died in December 1886, and the family moved to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. He attended
Oconomowoc High School in
Oconomowoc. In 1893, he enrolled in the Milwaukee School of Art (absorbed by
Milwaukee State Normal School
Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee was a predecessor institution of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Founded in 1885 as Wisconsin State Normal School, it became Wisconsin State Teachers College-Milwaukee in 1927, and Wisconsin State Coll ...
in 1913), where he studied with
Richard Lorenz, a well-known painter of western subjects. In 1895, Johnson moved to New York City, where he studied with
John Henry Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman (August 4, 1853 – August 8, 1902) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impr ...
at the
Art Students League of New York.
Career
![Frontis--The joyous trouble maker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Frontis--The_joyous_trouble_maker.jpg)
In his early career, he worked primarily as an
illustrator. He began working for ''
Field & Stream
''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American online magazine focusing on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. The magazine was a print publication between 1895 and 2015 and became an online-only publication from 2020.
History ...
'' magazine in 1904. He also illustrated for Boys' Life magazine.
In addition to ''Field & Stream'', he contributed to ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' and ''
Harpers Weekly
''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'' magazines, and illustrated the Western novels of
Zane Grey
Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American fronti ...
.
Johnson lived permanently in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
from 1904 until 1920, making numerous trips to the west to gather source material for his works that were completed in his New York studio. In 1912 he joined cowboy artist
Charles Russell on a sketching expedition to the
Blackfoot Reservation east of
Glacier National Park in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
. He lived and worked on the Lazy 7 Ranch in
Hayden,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
for a while, where he gained the title "Cow-Puncher Artist." Later he went
southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
to work on painting
Native Americans. In 1920, he moved to 22 Champion Place in
Alhambra, California
Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11 ...
where he shared a studio with Clyde Forsythe. At this point Johnson's easel paintings became more popular than his illustrations so he concentrated in this medium. Together Johnson and Forsythe exhibited in the Biltmore Art Gallery started by Jack Wilkinson Smith at the Biltmore Hotel according to Edan Milton Hughes, Artists in California 1786 – 1940.
Between 1931 and 1939, he spent much of his time at his studio in
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896.
The population was 10,066 at th ...
, just outside
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...
. Many of his paintings were done there from studies inside the park. He has been called the "Master of American Moonlight Painting" and "Master Painter of the Old West."
Attending a social event with his wife, Johnson happened to greet a socialite with a kiss on the cheek. Unfortunately, he contracted
spinal meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion o ...
from her with that kiss. She died a few days later, and then he died from the disease on New Year's Day 1939 in
Pasadena, California.
Awards and honors
In 1923, Johnson was awarded the Samuel T. Shaw Purchase Prize at an exhibit at the Salmagundi Club of which he was a member.
In 1932, Johnson was honored with membership in the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
.
In 1979, the Frank Tenney Johnson Memorial Invitational Art Show was held at the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs, California.
References
External links
A 1903 Field & Stream cover illustration by Frank Tenney Johnson
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ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110303020746/http://www.franktenneyjohnsonpainting.com/index.html Frank Tenney Johnson Artist and Gallery web siteTrouble on the Pony Express, ca.1910-1920, Sid Richardson Museum includes biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Frank Tenney
1874 births
1939 deaths
Artists of the American West
Artists from California
Neurological disease deaths in California
Infectious disease deaths in California
Deaths from meningitis
People from Pottawattamie County, Iowa
People from Alhambra, California
People from Cody, Wyoming
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni
American illustrators