Cecile Johnson
$2,500
American (1916–2010)
About the artist:
With her transparent watercolors, actions acrylics and oils of exotic landscapes, Cecile Johnson has gained worldwide recognition as a painter of sports and winter Olympic events, and for depicting the unique beauty of locations around the world. Her paintings reflect a spontaneous joy of life, prized by collectors for their illuminous qualities, sense of immediacy, power and intensity. ABC Wide World of Sports, Canadian Broadcasting, the BBC, CNN and other television networks have broadcast her painting live at world skating championships and the Olympic hockey game between the USA and the USSR, among other olympic sites. The national Fine Arts committee selected Cecile Johnson to produce the official lithographs for the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. In Anticipation of the 1992 French Winter Olympics, Officials from the Savoie area of France came to her studio at Des Artistes in New York to invite her to depict the action there. In March 1993 she covered World Cup events in Lillehammer, Norway alongside file crews from CBS to paint in advance of the Olympics there. Cecile Johnson's paintings of the Caribbean are legendary, resulting in commissions from the Bank of Bermuda, Triminghams, the Virgin Islands and Jamaican governments, Rock Resorts and Princess hotels. A TWA commission with a series on Paris, London and Rome complete with an exhibition on the Champs Elysees led to another from Harrod's of London. A.B. Phillips of Sweden commissioned paintings and serigraph editions of Ingemar Stenmark and Bjorn Borg. Other Sponsorships have come from american Express; 3-M; Equitable Life (for tennis) and Travelers Insurance ( for golf); Texaco and Mobil Oil (Great Ports of the world series); General Electric and General Mills; The Broadmoor, Hilton, Trust Houses Forte, Vista and Brown Palace hotels; Ford Motor Company; the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association and the U.S. Department of State. She was the first woman to be commissioned by the U.S. navy as a combat artist to paint the activities of Waves, Women Marines and navy Nurses. The sponsored of the annual hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque invited Cecile to paint their events in threes occasions. Cecile Painted the murals for the Regatta Room at the Bermuda International Airport, First Federal Savings and Loan in St. Paul and for the Keystone resort Conference Center in Colorado. She Designed stained glass windows for the Children's Chapel in Chicago, and her design in gold of the Olympic torch set with a diamond was chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee for the pin to be presented to sponsors. She was selected as an artist for American Artist cards, and created the most widely circulated Christmas Card with the Rockefeller Center skating motif. Cecile Johnson was a Board member of the American Watercolor Society, and is currently a director of the National Museum of Sports Art, Society of Illustrators member, and President of the Preservation of Traditional Values in the Fine Arts. EDUCATION Art Institute of ChicagoUniversity of Colorado Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsUniversity of Wisconsin SOLO EXHIBITIONS: TWA GalleryParis Lyford KeyBahamas Remington Art MuseumConnecticut O'Meara GallerySanta Fe Winjammer GalleryBermuda American Swedish Historical MuseumPhiladelphia Society of IllustratorsNew York Kimball Art CenterPark City, UT Newman GalleriesPhiladelphia Grand Central GalleriesNew York Greenville County MuseumSC Davenport Municipal MuseumIowa Hunter Mountain GalleryHunter, NY Colorado Ski MuseumVial National Arts ClubNew York IN CORPORATE CLIENTS AND COLLECTIONS Alf Engen Ski MuseumLake Tahoe Chamber American ExpressMinnesota Mining Aspen / SnowmassMobil Oil Brown Palace HotelNational Museum of Sport Colorado Ski MuseumNational Fine Arts Commission Equitable LifeNational Skiing Hall of Fame Ford Motor CompanyNew England Ski Museum General ElectricNew York Life General MillsPark City Chamber Gov't of JamaicaPhilips AB Gov't of Virgin IslandsPrincess Hotels Harrods of LondonRock Resorts Hilton HotelsRolex Keystone Museum FestivalSnowbird Keystone ResortSquaw Valley Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum
With her transparent watercolors, actions acrylics and oils of exotic landscapes, Cecile Johnson has gained worldwide recognition as a painter of sports and winter Olympic events, and for depicting the unique beauty of locations around the world.
$2,500