Jean Louise P. Johanson (October 3, 1911 – March 1, 2000) was an American sculptor, mosaic artist, and jewelry designer.

Early years and education

Johanson was born in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, Washington in 1911. She was a student of sculptor

Dudley Pratt Dudley Pratt (June 14, 1897 – November 18, 1975) was an American sculptor. He was born in Paris, France to Boston sculptors Bela and Helen Pratt. His sculptural education included study under Charles Grafly, Antoine Bourdelle, and Alexander ...

, Ruth Penington and Walter Isaacs, and took two summer classes with

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...

during his visits to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in the 1930s. She graduated from the University of Washington in 1934. In 1936, Johanson married the architect

Perry Johanson Perry Johanson (9 May 1910 in Greeley, Colorado – 15 June 1981 in Seattle) was a Seattle architect and one of the founders of the architectural firm NBBJ. Johanson enrolled in the architecture program at the University of Washington in 1929 ...

, a co-founder of the Northwest architecture firm

NBBJ NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.. NBBJ provides services in arch ...

Career

Johanson and her husband moved to Hilltop in the early 1950s. She had a solo show at the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

in 1944 and won numerous gallery awards during her career. In 1948 she made the sculpture “Spirit of Medicine” in collaboration with Dudley Pratt, which is located at the Health Sciences building on the University of Washington campus. In 1966 she made a metal fountain which is displayed at Westlake Square. She produced sculptural ornament for several buildings in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

metropolitan area. She produced freestanding works as well, including a bronze fountain installed at Seattle's

Westlake Center Westlake Center is a four-story shopping center and 25-story office tower in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The southern terminus of the Seattle Center Monorail, it is located across Pine Street from Westlake Park, between 4th and ...

. She was also known for her pebble mosaics. Her mosaic-works are shown at the Unitarian Church in

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

, Nordstrom's Department Store in Seattle, Holy Family Church in Kirkland and

Broadmoor Golf Club The Broadmoor Golf Club is a pair of golf courses, located on the grounds of The Broadmoor, a historic hotel and resort Colorado Springs, Colorado. Originally opened in 1918 and designed by Donald Ross, the course format was expanded in 1965 ...

in Seattle. Joseph Young called her "among the foremost in the use of sandcast pebble mosaics". Her mosaic "Men Come and Go Like Waves of the Sea," named after a quotation attributed to

Chief Seattle Chief Seattle ( – June 7, 1866) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in th ...

, is installed at the

Pacific Science Center Pacific Science Center is an independent, non-profit science center in Seattle with a mission to ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking. Pacific Science Center serves more than 1 million people e ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. In the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated on creating jewelry of natural materials.

Death

Johanson died at the age of 88 of Alzheimer's disease.

Exhibitions

• New York World's Fair (1939) • National Exhibition of American Artists in New York (1936) • Seattle Art Museum (1936-1938, one artist show in 1944)

References

*Beers, Carole. "Jean Louise Johanson, Seattle artist." ''Seattle

ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Times,'' night final edition, March 5, 2000. *. * Seattle Arts Commission, ''A Field Guide to Seattle's Public Art'', Seattle Arts Commission, 1991 *. *Graduation date from death notice i
Columns: The University of Washington alumni magazine
June 2000.

External links

Photograph of Jean Johanson
1937, by Ernst Kassowitz in the Modern Photographers Collection of the

.
Men Come and Go Like the Waves of the Sea
on Waymarking.com. 1911 births 2000 deaths University of Washington alumni 20th-century American sculptors American women sculptors American jewelry designers Mosaic artists 20th-century American women artists Women jewellers {{US-sculptor-stub