Ralph Helm Johonnot (1880–1940) was an American artist, designer, and arts educator, he is known for his educational series on color and interior decoration. He created paintings and prints, within the Arts and Crafts movement of

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

and landscapes, as well as creating decorative work with his wife Salome Lavinia Johonnot (née Hopper, 1883–1962). Together with Salome, they traveled to give educational lectures on the arts and created two private art schools, the Ralph Johonnot Studio in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and Johonnot Summer School of Design and Hand Work in Pacific Grove, California. He was active in the arts throughout the state of California from approximately 1912–1940.

Biography

Johonnot was born 28 July 1880 in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Mary Helm and Charles Johonnot. He was the middle child with two siblings, an older brother Earnest and a younger brother Carl. Johonnot attended

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, he was a pupil of

Arthur Wesley Dow Arthur Wesley Dow (1857 – December 13, 1922) was an American painter, printmaker, photographer and an arts educator. Early life Arthur Wesley Dow was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1857. Dow received his first art training in 1880 from An ...

. In 1906–1907, Ralph and his brother Carl traveled to England and France to study painting. From 1909 until 1912, Johonnot taught classes in

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univers ...

and

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

in Brooklyn, New York and was eventually promoted to the head of the Design Department. By 1913, Johonnot and his wife moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and the same year he began lecturing at

San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequence ...

(SFAA). Some of Johonnot's early students were artist

Rudolph Schaeffer Rudolph Frederick Schaeffer (June 26, 1886 – March 5, 1988) an American arts educator and artist connected to the Arts and Crafts movement. He was the founder of the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, a school that was based in San Francisco an ...

and

William S. Rice William Seltzer Rice (June 23, 1873 – August 27, 1963) was an American Woodblock printing, woodblock print artist, Art education, art educator and author, associated with the Arts and Crafts movement in Northern California. Early life and educ ...

. Other students of Johonnot's included

Nell Choate Jones Nell Hinton Choate Jones (1879–1981) was an American artist and educator, who painted scenes of the Southern United States in a highly individualized expressionist style. Her style is characterized by the simplification of forms, rhythmic desig ...

, Lydia Bush-Brown Head,

Daisy Marguerite Hughes Daisy Marguerite Hughes (1883–1968) was an American painter and lithographer. About A native of Los Angeles, California and born in 1883. Hughes studied with George Elmer Browne, Ralph Johonnot, Louise Elizabeth Garden MacLeod, Rudolph Schaeff ...

Maude Kerns Maude Irvine Kerns (August 1, 1876 – August 19, 1965) was an American artist and art educator, known for her avant-garde paintings. Her works were exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum, National Gallery of Art, and the Salon des Réalités Nouve ...

, Frank Ingerson, Marjorie Hodges Doolittle, Grif Teller, and many others. In the summers between 1914 and 1916 were spent hosting and teaching at Johonnot Summer School of Design and Hand Work in Pacific Grove, California. The family moved often between 1916 until 1927, between the cities of Pacific Grove and Carmel Highlands in

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

, and

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

in Southern California and various other places where they hosted lectures and classes on design but they maintained a residency in Pacific Grove while traveling. By the 1920s, Johonnot's traveling lectures started to be more focused on the study of color, as well as interior decoration of the home. Johonnot died on 19 November 1940 in

Los Gatos Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...

Personal life

Johonnot was married in 1910 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

to artist and designer Salome Lavinia Johonnot (née Hopper, 1883–1962). Together the couple would create

work together, occasionally working in interior design, mural design and painting, and fashion design. Salome had studied Sewing, stitchery in England with

May Morris Mary "May" Morris (25 March 1862 – 17 October 1938) was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' m ...

, the daughter of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

. Together they had one child, Ralph Jr.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 1933 – Utah Art Studio,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Utah * 1937 –

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

, California

Select group exhibitions

* 1915 – The Ralph Johonnot Studio, Education Exhibits at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), San Francisco, California * 1915 – Applied Arts by Southern California Craftsmen Exhibition (exhibited together with wife Salome), Panama-California Exposition, San Diego, California * 1916 – Arts and Crafts Society’s First Annual Salon, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California * 1916 – National Society of Craftsmen (exhibited together with wife Salome), New York City, New York * 1917 – Chicago Ceramics Art Association,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Chicago, Illinois * 1922 – Artists' Cooperative Galleries, J.M. Gidding & Company Building, 726 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York * 1929 – Second Annual Decorative Arts Exhibition, Women’s Club of San Francisco, San Francisco, California * 1930 – Elder's (Paul Elder Gallery), San Francisco, California * 1930 – Palo Alto Art Club (now the

Pacific Art League The Pacific Art League (PAL), formally known as the Palo Alto Art Club was founded in 1921 in Palo Alto, California and is a membership-run nonprofit arts organization, school, and gallery. The group is located in a historic building at 668 Ramon ...

), Palo Alto Library, Palo Alto, California * 1932 – (exhibition with wife Salome,

Gene Kloss Alice Geneva "Gene" Kloss (née Glasier; July 27, 1903 – June 24, 1996) was an American artist known today primarily for her many prints of the Western landscape and ceremonies of the Pueblo people she drew entirely from memory. Early life and ...

), Delphian Society, San Mateo Library, San Mateo, California

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johonnot, Ralph 1880 births 1940 deaths Artists from California People from Pacific Grove, California Artists from Syracuse, New York Pratt Institute alumni Pratt Institute faculty 20th-century American painters Arts and Crafts movement artists American art educators People from Los Gatos, California