Signing of the Treaty of Versailles, by John Christen Johansen

John Christen Johansen (November 25, 1876 – May 23, 1964) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

- American portraitist. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Background

Johansen was born in

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and came to America as an infant. He studied in Cincinnati under

Frank Duveneck Frank Duveneck (né Decker; October 9, 1848 – January 3, 1919) was an American figure and portrait painter. Early life Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernhard Decker. Decker died in a cholera epidemic whe ...

Paintings by John C. Johansen and M. Jean McLane January 3 to 23 191
online
retrieved May 24, 2009 and later at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

where he taught from 1901 to 1911. While a member of the faculty of the Art Institute he met, and later wed, recognized portraitist M. Jean McLane (1878–1964). Before focusing primarily on portraiture Johansen painted landscapes. In 1915 he was elected to 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 ...

Career

Leaving Chicago in 1919, Johansen moved to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian where he learned academic technique while being exposed to the ideas of modernism. He maintained friendships with other artists including

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

and John Singer Sargent. Grave of John Christen Johansen (1876–1964) at Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago

At the conclusion of World War I, Johansen was commissioned by the U.S. government to document the signing of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

which today hangs in the National Portrait Gallery,

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. Other portraits include the original Presidential portrait of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, official

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

portrait of Attorney General Robert H. Jackson (which later became the basis of the official

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

portrait of Justice Robert H. Jackson), official

Vermont State House The Vermont State House, located in Montpelier, is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Vermont. It is the seat of the Vermont General Assembly. The current Greek Revival structure is the third building on the same site to be used as the Sta ...

portrait of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Percival Clement, two works in the

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, and works in the collections of the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago and the

Richmond Art Museum The Richmond Art Museum was founded in 1898 as the Art Association of Richmond, Indiana. Artist John Elwood Bundy and author and attorney William Dudley Foulke were instrumental in the founding. Permanent collection Its collection includes imp ...

. He died in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...

on May 23, 1964, at the age of 87, and was buried at

Oak Woods Cemetery Oak Woods Cemetery is a large lawn cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. Located at 1035 E. 67th Street, in the Greater Grand Crossing area of Chicago's South Side. Established on February 12, 1853, it covers . Oak Woods is the final resting place o ...

in Chicago.

Awards

*Young Fortnightly prize,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(1903) *Honorable mention, Arts Club of Chicago (1903) *Medal of honor, Chicago Society of Artists (1904) *Bronze medal, Louisiana Purchase Exposition,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

(1904) *Gold medal, Grand Prix Exposition,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(1910)

Notes

References

Other sources

*Lewis, R.W.B. and Nancy Lewis. ''American Characters - Selections From The National Portrait Gallery, Accompanied By Literary Portraits.'' Yale University: 2000. ASIN B000JZVXP2. * Robbins, Daniel. ''The Vermont State House: A History and Guide.'' The Vermont State House Preservation Committee: 1980. *Voss, Frederick S. ''Portraits of the Presidents Revised Edition: The National Portrait Gallery.'' Rizolli: 2007. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Johansen, John Christen 1876 births 1964 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Danish emigrants to the United States Artists from Copenhagen School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Académie Carmen alumni Olympic competitors in art competitions 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists