Still Life in Jug, 1988

Audrey Johnson is an artist about whom we know very little, but whose work deserves wider recognition. Her deceptively simple and honest still-life paintings have quietly influenced many of today’s social media-savvy popular artists. Johnson drew inspiration from her home, garden, and the joy in everyday things, which is reflected in her subtle and delicate compositions. These works, distilled down to their most essential forms, create an intimate experience for the viewer.

Although we don’t know much about Johnson’s training or the awards she may have received, we do know that she lived in the picturesque hamlet of Cartmel Fell in Cumbria with her husband and fellow artist, Claude Harrison (1922–2009). Harrison trained at Preston College of Art and Liverpool College of Art before serving in the Royal Air Force during the war. He married Johnson in 1947.