Ynez Johnston 1920–2019
In 1920, Ynez Johnston was born in Berkeley, California. She studied at the University of California, Berkeley, under influential artists like Worth Ryder, Erle Loran, and Margaret Peterson. Johnston's work reflected a unique fusion of modernism and ancient traditions, drawing inspiration from Byzantine, Tibetan, Indian, Mexican, and Nepalese art, all of which she encountered during her extensive travels. Quite an accomplished painter, Johnston was also an adept printmaker and sculptor.
Johnston's career took off after receiving the Bertha Taussig Memorial Award in 1941, which enabled her to live and work in Mexico. Her first solo exhibition was held at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1943. Throughout her life, Johnston traveled to places like Nepal, Italy, Spain, and India, integrating the diverse artistic traditions she experienced into her work. Her visual style was characterized by intricate, semi-abstract figures and landscapes, which combined architectural, human, animal, and plant forms in dreamlike compositions. She worked primarily in painting, using oil, acrylics, encaustic, and mixed media, and her printmaking included intaglio, woodblock, and lithography.
Johnston exhibited widely in galleries and museums, including a significant 1950 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she won first prize for her etching. In 1951, her work was included in the Museum of Modern Art's New Talent exhibition in New York, marking the start of her East Coast presence. She was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952, a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1976 and 1986, and the Los Angeles Times "Woman of the Year" award in 1959.
Throughout her career, Johnston collaborated on sculptural works with her husband, the writer John Berry, and ceramic artist Adam Mekler. She also taught at several institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. Her work is housed in over sixty major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Johnston passed away in 2019, leaving behind a rich legacy of artwork that spans decades.
