A rare painting by one of Canada’s most famous artists will be on display in Jasper early next month.
Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge will showcase Franz Johnston’s “Forest Fire” from April 2–10, in a sneak peek ahead of its “Three Generations of Canadian Landscape Painting” exhibition later this year.
According to gallery owner Wendy Wacko, “Forest Fire” has been in the hands of a private collector for decades, and hasn’t been seen publicly for 25 years.
The collector hopes to sell the painting, so she entrusted it to Mountain Galleries, which will showcase the work at its locations throughout the Rocky Mountains. When the painting stops in town April 2 it will be a rare opportunity for Jasperites to see the work in person.
In an email describing the painting, Wacko, an avid Johnston fan, gushed about its composition.
“The way the road stops and starts; the dark patch of grass and earth in the foreground designed to lead your eye into the middle ground; the direction of the clouds and the small cloud on the right hand side that almost caps the road [are] all design elements that keep you engaged and stop the eye from escaping the scene,” she wrote.
“The palette is subtle and tasteful, and the use of soft yellow and purple is clever and gives the piece tremendous life.”
Johnston was a founding member of Canada’s most well-known group of artists, the Group of Seven.
The group was formed with the belief that Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with nature, and it gained notoriety in the 1920s for its paintings inspired by the Canadian wilderness.
In an interview March 24, Wacko explained that many people are still captivated by Johnston, because he was one of the more “challenging and controversial” members of the group.
Johnston only showcased his work with the Group of Seven once, at their first show in 1920. He later left the hub of Ontario to teach art in Winnipeg, and officially resigned from the group in 1924. A few years later he changed his name from Frank to Franz.
Johnston was prolific, painting more than 250 works over the course of his career, and some avid Johnston collectors insist on buying only paintings signed with one particular moniker or another.
Wacko explained that, unlike most of the rest of the group, Johnston was also a full-time painter, and that is evident in his work.
She said one could argue his technical knowledge of the craft is more apparent in his work, which “is a little bit more refined, and technically you could argue it was superior” to his peers.
Johnston painted “Forest Fire” in 1928, and according to Wacko it is one of the first works he signed with his adopted name “Franz.”
She said she is honoured that her gallery has been entrusted with the work.
“It’s a turning point for the gallery, a coming of age,” she said.
“I’m really excited about it—I’m overwhelmed. I might even bring it home and hang it in the house for a private dinner with my husband,” she joked.
Trevor Nichols
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