Richard S. Johnson is an award-winning American painter based in Chicago, Illinois.
Richard S. Johnson at a glance
- Born: 1953, Chicago, Illinois
- Nationality: American
- Based in: Chicago, Illinois
- Education: Art Institute of Chicago as a young scholar, then the American Academy of Art
- Known for: Portraits, including a portrait of John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Presidential Library
- Style: Pre-Raphaelite romanticism mixed with contemporary expressionism
- Influences: Charles Dana Gibson, N.C. Wyeth and John Singer Sargent
“Johnson’s style has been regarded as having the technical excellence of Pre-Raphaelite romanticism mixed with contemporary expressionism and abstraction.”
Richard S. Johnson was born in Chicago to a family of artists, and while still in primary school, he was accepted as a scholar to the Art Institute of Chicago, and he later graduated from the American Academy of Art before embarking on a career as an illustrator.
Richard S. Johnson is heavily influenced by Charles Dana Gibson, N.C. Wyeth, and John Singer Sargent, whose books he read as a child, and his style has been regarded as having the technical excellence of Pre-Raphaelite romanticism mixed with contemporary expressionism and abstraction.
Richard S. Johnson has made portraits of historical personalities, such as former US president John F. Kennedy and former NASA administrator Richard H. Truly, and his portrait of JFK now hangs at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
Richard S. Johnson was also commissioned to create a commemorative painting honoring former US presidents, and the painting is currently on display at the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition in Washington, D.C., reflecting his national recognition and prestige.
After winning the International Journal of Artists competition, Richard S. Johnson was invited to work in Japan, and upon his return to the United States, he recieved numerous awards for the results of competitions held in the United States, including the first prize among oil painters in the United States in 2003.
- Born in Chicago to a family of artists.
- Studied at the Art Institute of Chicago as a child.
- Graduated from the American Academy of Art.
- His portrait of JFK hangs at the Kennedy Library.
- Won first prize among US oil painters in 2003.
Richard S. Johnson’s work features a string of charming female images, and he perfectly recreates the harmony of colors, lines, and shapes, singing the beauty embodied in a woman, and his work continues to be celebrated for its technical excelence and emotional depth.
Art Category Fact: Pre-Raphaelite romanticism is an art movement that emerged in England in 1848, characterized by a return to the detail, color, and composition of Quattrocento Italian art, with a focus on medieval and literary themes, and it was founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt, influencing later movements such as Aestheticism and Symbolism.
“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” — Oscar Wilde