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Unlike many of his contemporaries, it has taken longer for Johnstone’s radical thinking and extraordinary creativity to earn the recognition it so richly deserves. The exhibition features the full spectrum of Johnstone’s art. From early works examining Celtic traditions afresh to vast abstract landscapes of the Scottish Borders and autonomous ink works, influenced by Japanese Zen drawings.
This 2012 publication features the following essays: ‘The Art of William Johnstone’ by Duncan MacMillan, ‘A Personal Memory’ by Gordon Baldwin, OBE, ‘Conjubcture, and “Something Essentially Scottish”‘ by Alan Harkness.
William Johnstone, born the son of a farmer in the Scottish Borders, was at the forefront of British art world throughout the twentieth century. He became one of the first British artists to break with representation and paint purely abstract pictures; he also had evolutionary impact on art education. He was Principal at Camberwell College of Art from 1938- 1946 and then Principal at Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1947 to 1960. He developed the Basic Design course which stemmed from the Bauhaus and his instinct to defy convention and his eye for talented staff made Central a tour de force. Alan Davie, Anton Ehrenzweig, Patrick Heron, Earl Haig, John Minton, Eduardo Paolozzi, Victor Pasmore, Gordon Baldwin, William Turnbull all worked for him – which made for an explosive, creative mixture of artistic personalities. He received an OBE for his contribution to art education in 1954 then returned home to the Borders in 1960 to concentrate on painting and return to farming.
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