Lester Johnson Art
American, 1919-2010
A New York artist, known as a second-generation Abstract Expressionist, Lester Johnson was born to a large Lutheran family in Minneapolis. He studied at the Minneapolis School of Art and the St. Paul Art School. There, he was introduced to Hans Hofmann's teaching approach, particularly the push and pull effects of form and color by St. Paul teachers Alexander Masley and Cameron Booth, both of whom had studied with Hofmann in Munich. After further study at the Chicago Art Institute, Johnson moved to New York City in 1947 and became one of the first downtown loft-dwellers. He shared a lower East Side studio with Larry Rivers and attended some of Hofmann's New York classes. Rents were cheap, but Johnson was broke much of the time as he tried to support his painting through a variety of part-time jobs, including teaching art. In 1950, he and realist figurative painter Philip Pearlstein shared studio space. Lester's wife, Jo, had introduced the two artists at a time when she and Pearlstein were studying art history at New York University.
Johnson's various studios, on the Bowery and elsewhere, were always one flight up with a view of Manhattan's active street life. No wonder, for over 50 years, street scenes have been a dominant part of his art. Johnson adopted the working techniques of action painting, which meant he used a great deal of paint. A tube of oil paint might be expended in seconds as he, like Pollock, physically projected himself into the work. The images that Johnson produced were not decorative, but stubbornly confrontational, oversize, brooding, thickly encrusted, scarred surfaces that were alive with recognizable objects and figures. Even today, few realize how radical it was for Johnson to depict a recognizable subject in an adamantly pro-abstract-expressionist climate. Sculptor George Segal recalled, "The Abstract Expressionists were legislating any reference to the physical world totally out of art. This was outrageous to us." The rebellion came naturally to Lester Johnson, and he remained tenaciously outside the mainstream. Nonetheless, he produced a body of work that influenced several generations of younger painters and confounded an art establishment in need of neat categorization. He remains one of the few painters whose work holds significance for both abstract and figurative artists. Johnson's animated men and women, with all their nervous energy, yield themselves only gradually to analysis and will no doubt be reinterpreted for many years to come.
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Artist: Lester Johnson
DaVinci Tee Threesome, Signed Lithograph, Group Portrait, Pizza, Orange, Rust
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
DaVinci Tee Threesome is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson(1919-2010). DaVinci Tee Threesome was printed using hand lithogr...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Street Scene White Dress
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson
Title: Street Scene White Dress
Medium: Lithograph
Signed: Hand Signed
Edition: From the edition of 175
Measurements: 29" x 21"
Year: 1980
Note: This piece is...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Street Scene 4
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson
Title: Street Scene 4
Medium: Lithograph
Signed: Hand Signed
Edition: Edition of 175
Measurements: 29" x 21"
Year: 1978
Note: This piece is sold UNFRAMED
Con...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Group Scene Slacks
By Lester Johnson
Located in Hollywood, FL
Artist: Lester Johnson
Title: Group Scene Slacks
Medium: Lithograph
Signed: Hand Signed
Edition: Edition of 175
Measurements: 29" x 21"
Year: 1979
Note: This piece is sold UNFRAMED
...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Self Portrait
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson Self Portrait 1969 drawn with ink, crayon, and spray enamel on paper. Measuring 14 by 11 inches, this drawing was recently professionally framed.
Category
1960s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Enamel
GROUP WALKING 1982 NYC Exhibition Poster, Figurative Portrait, Women Auburn Hair
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
LESTER JOHNSON 1982 NYC Art Exhibition Poster
Print Size -
25.25 x 29.5 inches, unframed, excellent condition, unsigned
Image size - 18.5 x 23 inches
Year published - 1982
GROUP WALKING is a limited run art exhibition poster by the American expressionist painter LESTER JOHNSON. It was created in 1982 in conjunction with the gallery exhibition of Johnson's paintings at Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer Gallery NYC. GROUP WALKING was printed in color offset lithography on high quality 80 lb. satin finish paper in soft pastel shades of pale peach, orange, pink, brown, green, muted navy blue, gray, black and white. GROUP WALKING is a modern figurative portrait depicting four young women with auburn hair dressed in fashionable multicolored print sheath dresses and one young man wearing a navy blue Yankees cap smoking his cigarette in the background as they pass each other on a city street.
As a figurative expressionist and member of the Second Generation of the New York School, painter Lester Johnson(1919-2010) remained dedicated to the human figure as means of expression through the many stylistic changes of his oeuvre. Johnson exhibited his art at the Martha Jackson Gallery, Zabriskie Gallery...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Offset
Head with Plant
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson "Head with Plant" 1959 oil on paper. Early figurative expressionist painting on paper. Nicely framed.
Category
1950s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Paper, Oil
PASSING CROWD Signed Lithograph, Women Men Walking, Sheath Dress, Light Peach
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
PASSING CROWD is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% acid free, full bleed image, no margins. In PASSING CROWD, a group of fashionable city women and men walking...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Girls Walking State 3
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson Girls Walking State 3 etching 1986. Designated edition number 8 of 21 in pencil lower left recto. Signed in pencil "Lester Johnson" lower right recto.
Category
1980s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint, Intaglio
NY STREET SCENE I Signed Lithograph, City Crowd Portrait, Black Line Drawing
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
NY STREET SCENE is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed in black ink using hand lithography techniques on archival pa...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
City Graces, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
This Lester Johnson print incorporates elements of New York City in both the bustling, energetic atmosphere and the related paraphernalia. Relying on th...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
untitled
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Lester Johnson untitled charcoal, conte crayon, and spray enamel on board from 1972. Framed.
Category
1970s Other Art Style Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Conté, Charcoal, Spray Paint, Board
CITY GRACES Signed Lithograph, Group Portrait, Peach, Yellow, Brown, Plum
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GRACES is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper 1...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Untitled", Inked Profile, Museum Glass, Custom Frame, Mixed Media, India Ink
By Lester Johnson
Located in Detroit, MI
SALE ONE WEEK ONLY
“Untitled” painted in India Ink of two heads was done during what has been call Lester Johnson’s Dark Paintings of the 1960s. In 2013 John Yau wrote with much insight about that period of Johnson’s work - “Lester Johnson (1919-2010) was an innovative figurative painter who has never quite fit into any of the accepted narratives of postwar American art, and that alone makes his work worthy of a longer look. The 1960s was an explosively turbulent era marked by assassinations, race riots, space flights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Beatles’ and Rolling Stones’ first American tours, and the rapidly escalating Vietnam War. Everyone was wary and on edge. Meanwhile, in the New York art world, all eyes were fixated on the rise and triumph of Pop Art, Minimalism and Color Field painting.
Johnson was one of the few artists that attuned to the dismay that everyone was feeling during the violent and schizophrenic time, the sense that it could all come crashing down. However, his work was never overtly political or didactic. While his dark, brooding, monochromatic paintings of anonymous men gained a small and loyal following, they also became part of that largely invisible history of a time when New York was a tough scary and exciting place to be.
More than fifty years after they were made, Johnson’s Dark Paintings continue to retain a coarseness that we associate with gestural Abstract Expressionism and Jean Dubuffet’s anti-psychological, anti-personal portraits incorporating sand and gravel. One sees in them the antecedents of Joyce Pensato’s gestural exaggerations of Groucho Marx, Homer Simpson and Minnie Mouse. While Pensato brings an infectious humor to her work, Johnson was more somber. I cannot help but think that both these artists chose their bedraggled subjects out of empathy and a trace of identification.”
Lester Johnson, was born in 1919 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Minneapolis School of Art, where he studied under Alexander Masley who was a former student of Hans Hofmann.
Johnson continued his artistic career in New York City where he opened his first studio on 6th and Avenue A. His neighbor there was fellow painter Wolf Kahn. During his time there he would share a loft with Larry Rivers and married the art historian Josephine Valenti. In 1961 he briefly taught at Ohio State University before returning to New York City to share a studio with Philip Pearlstein. Jack Tworkov would invite Johnson to teach at Yale, an offer that Lester Johnson would accept and spend the rest of his life in Connecticut. Johnson passed away in 2010.
Johnson's work has been exhibited in the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Walker Art Center, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
This work has been framed inside of a custom frame with museum glass...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
India Ink, Mixed Media
3 Crouching Figures #1
By Lester Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Ink and spray enamel on paper. Signed "Lester Johnson" and dated "1968" lower right recto. Provenance: Martha Jackson Gallery
Category
1960s Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Spray Paint
NY SCENE: FACES Signed Lithograph, Portrait Women Red Hair, Man Blue Yankee Cap
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
NY SCENE: FACES is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Somerset printmaking paper 100% acid free, full bleed image, no margins. NY SCENE: FACES presents a city street scene portraying a head portrait of two doll-like women's faces looking in opposite directions. The two men positioned above them in the background also looking away, not at each other, all crowded together on a busy city street. The young women with full wavy auburn hair and red lips are the focal point, one wearing lively checkered print dress, the other a strand of white pearls. Easily visible on the upper right corner, one male figure sports a navy blue New York YANKEES cap...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
NY STREET SCENE II Hand Drawn Lithograph, Walking Women, Group Portrait, Faces
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
NY STREET SCENE II is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed in black ink using hand lithography techniques on archival...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Untitled (Figures in a park)
By Lester Johnson
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Figures in a park)
Watercolor on paper, 1991
Signed lower right of image (see photo)
Condition: Excellent
Sheet size: 10 3/16 x 14 1/16 inches
Provenance: David Anderson Ga...
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Watercolor
CITY VENUS Signed Lithograph, Men Women Walking, Sheath Dress, Peach Brown Pink
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY VENUS is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% ac...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Frontal Street Scene
By Lester Johnson
Located in San Francisco, CA
This lithograph is immediately identifiable as the work of Lester Johnson (1919-2010) .
The print is titled “Frontal Street Scene.” It was published in 1970 by Collector’s Press. Th...
Category
1970s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
THREE HEADS - FRONTAL
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester (American 1919-2010). THREE HEADS FRONTAL. Lithograph, 1963. Edition of 39. Titled, numbered 29/38 and signed in pencil in the margin bel...
Category
1960s Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Three Seated Men" original etching signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present aquatint is an excellent example of the multifigural works of Lester Johnson. The print presents the viewer with three seated figures, their...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
'Street Scene With Building #2' original silkscreen signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblematic...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
CITY SCENE
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester (American, 1919-2010). CITY SCENE. Lithograph, 1970. Edition of 20. Signed in pencil and numbered "3/20." 19 1/4 x 30 inches (image/sheet),...
Category
1970s Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
'Street Scene With Man & Women' original silkscreen signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblematic...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
'Two Women & Man With Band T-Shirt' original screenprint by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features three figures, all wearing fashionable street clothing emblemati...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
CLOSE UP Hand Drawn Lithograph Closeup Crowd Portrait Blondie T-Shirt, Cigarette
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CLOSE UP is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% acid...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Street Scene
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
A New York City street scene by Lester Johnson circa 1980.
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: Street Scene
Year: circa 1980
Medium: ...
Category
1980s Pop Art Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
CITY GROUP Signed Lithograph, Street Crowd, Women Men Faces, Peach Orange Brown
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GROUP is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper 10...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Passing Crowd, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: Passing Crowd
Year: circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: AP 30
Size: 28 in. x 21 in. (71.12 cm...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: New York Dancers (7)
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition:...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: New York Dancers (3)
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 1...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Tip of Broadway II
By Lester Johnson
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original lithograph created by Lester F. Johnson. This work was donated to Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center by the David K. Anderson Charitable Trust. All proceeds from the sal...
Category
1970s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: New York Dancers (5)
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition:...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
MEN IN STREET
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester. MEN IN STREET #2.
Etching in colors, 1973.
Edition of 35, numbered 33/35, titled, and signed in pencil.
19 1/2 x 25 inches, 494 x 635 mm. (plate); 25 x 31 inches,...
Category
Mid-20th Century Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Etching
Close Up
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: Close Up
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 175
Paper Size: 28 ...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
New York Dancers, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: New York Dancers (8)
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition:...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Da Vinci's Restaurant, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson
Title: DaVinci's Restaurant
Year: 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 150
Paper Size: 28 x 21 inches
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
Three Women, Lithograph by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lester Johnson, American (1919 - 2010)
Title: Three Women
Year: Circa 1980
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 175, HC 25
Pa...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
CITY GRACES Signed Lithograph Modern Women Pucci Print Dresses, Peach, Red, Tan
By Lester Johnson
Located in Union City, NJ
CITY GRACES is an original hand drawn lithograph by the NY figurative expressionist painter, Lester Johnson. Printed using hand lithography techniques on archival ARCHES paper 100% a...
Category
1980s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
MEN IN BOWLER HATS
By Lester Johnson
Located in Portland, ME
Johnson, Lester (American, 1919-2010). MEN IN BOWLER HATS. Drawing, watercolor, wash, and pastel on paper, 1973. Signed, lower right. 26 1/2 x 40 1/2 inches...
Category
1970s Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Pastel, Watercolor
"Untitled - LJ #53, " Lithograph signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Untitled - LJ#53" is an original color lithograph by Lester Johnson. The artist signed the piece in the lower center and also wrote the edition number,...
Category
1970s Expressionist Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Street Scene #1" original silkscreen print signed by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashiona...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
'Street Scene With City & Building' original screenprint by Lester Johnson
By Lester Johnson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an original screen print signed by Lester Johnson, from his 'Street Scene Portfolio.' It features four figures, all wearing fashiona...
Category
1970s Contemporary Lester Johnson Art
Materials
Screen
Lester Johnson art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Lester Johnson art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Lester Johnson in lithograph, paint, screen print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Lester Johnson art, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Chaim Gross, Romare Bearden, and Pipo Nguyen-Duy. Lester Johnson art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $115 and tops out at $12,000, while the average work can sell for $925.