Thanks to watercolors reproduced in Skiing magazine and her paintings of Olympic winter games, Cecile Johnson is often identified as a painter of ski scenes. However, her subject matter is much broader. She as literally painted her way around the world on assignments from publications and corporations or accompanying her late first husband, Dr. Philip Johnson, a Lutheran bishop, in his work. The Caribbean has been a particular favorite.
Fresh, accurate painting, plus an emotional and muscular kinship with sports enthusiasts, are major components of Cecile Johnson’s career. Whether it is skiers or swimmers, she has painted them on site. She is known for action figures. In an interview with American Artist magazine, she was quoted: “Painting direct watercolors is similar to participating in active sports. In each there is really only one chance to do it and do it right.”
Cecile Ryden Johnson grew up in snow country – St. Paul, Minn. She attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Il. And in the summer, the Art Institute of Chicago.
When her husband served as a church pastor in Chicago, the magazines published in that city offered Cecile a market for her artwork. It broadened when Dr. Johnson turned to national responsibilities for the church and the family moved to the New York area. She received commissions publications and from corporations such as TWA, Equitable, and the Bank of Bermuda. Her work was added to the collections of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, and the Emperor Akihito of Japan as well as corporate and sports leaders. She was elected to the board of the American Watercolor Society and to the Board of Trustees of the National Art Museum of Sport.
In 1999, the National Art Museum of Sport organized a retrospective of Cecile Johnson’s work: “Through the Snow and Under the Sun.”
Works by Cecile Johnson in the National Art Museum of Sport include:
|
Martina Navratilova
|
|
Acrylic
|
|
Ingemar Stenmark
|
|
Serigraph
|
|
The Gold and the Silver
|
1987
|
Serigraph
|
|
Legends of Skiing-Emile Allais
|
|
Poster
|
|
Phil Mahre’s Last World Cup
|
|
Print
|
|
Bjorn Borg
|
|
Serigraph
|
|
Olympic Bob Run
|
1980
|
Print
|
|
Olympic Downhill
|
1980
|
Print
|
|
Mt. Vallon France
|
1992
|
Print
|
|
USA,USA,USA Olympics
|
1980
|
Print
|
|
Downhill Racer
|
|
Print
|
