Autumn Tangle

Provenance:
Private Collection, Ontario

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By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario

Exhibitions:
Rothman's Art Gallery, Stratford, Group of Seven

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Champlain College, Trent University, Peterborough, Rodrik / Johnston, March 27 - April 18, 1973

Literature:
G. Blair Laing, Memoirs of an Art Dealer, 1979, a similar 1919 tempera entitled Woodland Tapestry, Algoma reproduced page 138

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Rosalyn Porter, The Group of Seven and their Contemporaries, Kenneth G. Heffel Fine Art Inc., 1980, a similar circa 1919 canvas entitled One Fine Day, Algoma reproduced, unpaginated
Notes:
Through the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto and while working at the commercial art firm of Grip Ltd., Frank Johnston met other like-minded artists, and together they formed the Group of Seven. Johnston accompanied members on their historic 1918, 1919 and 1920 autumn trips to Algoma. This work is signed Frank H. Johnston, indicating that this is a rare Group of Seven period canvas, as Johnston changed his name to Franz in 1926, following his departure from the Group in 1924. Johnston's predominant medium was tempera during this period, a factor in the rarity of this oil on canvas. His painterly and textural brush-strokes and use of accent daubs of colour are consistent with works produced during his Algoma period. A fine sense of design, with the influence of Art Nouveau, is exhibited in this beautiful canvas in the gracefully drooping tree limbs. Johnston used a rich palette - enlivening the blues and greens of lake and woods with bright autumn leaves and highlights of pink, peridot green and plum on the tree trunks. Clarity of light, luscious colour and fine, bold brushwork make Autumn Tangle an exceptional Group period canvas.