Eric Lee-Johnson
 | This article includes a list of generalreferences,butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations.(June 2024) |
Eric Albert Lee-Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 November 1908 Suva,Fiji |
| Died | 24 May 1993(aged 84) |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Education | Elam School of Art,Camberwell School of Art and Crafts,Central School of Art and Design |
| Known for | Painting |
Eric Albert Lee-Johnson(8 November 1908 – 24 May 1993) was a New Zealand artist and photographer.
Biography
[edit]Lee-Johnson was born inSuva,Fijiand moved to New Zealand in 1912 with his parents. As a child he showed an unusual gift for drawing and he entered Auckland'sElam School of Artwhere he remained from 1923 to 1926. At 18 he joined newspaper publishersWilson & Horton’s printing department and within a year was in charge of the studio and working a lithograph artist and illustrator. In 1930 he sailed for London, England. He spent eight years in London, from the age of 21 working as designer and typographer with the large advertising agencyS.H. Benson.He studied lithography atCamberwell School of Art and Craftsand attended Charles Porter's life classes at theCentral School of Art and Designin London. His work from 1931 to 1936 was influenced by contemporary German typography, graphics and poster design in Europe.
In 1938 he accepted a contract from Illott's Advertising Agency in Wellington and returned to New Zealand. He immediately rejoined the art scene and, in 1939, he was elected a member of theNew Zealand Academy of Fine Artsserving a term on the Committee of Management,National Art Gallery.His health broke down and after more than two years in Pukeora sanatorium he left the commercial world and with his wife and son went to live the simple life at Piha and become a full-time painter.
Lee-Johnson lived in various parts of New Zealand from 1942 to 1960 including Coromandel and the Hokianga, and his non-figurative abstract paintings date from this time. In the 1950s a series of his North New Zealand paintings and topographical drawings recording the architecture of some surviving early wooden buildings, set off a whole romantic movement in New Zealand art. In 1956 he became the first New Zealand painter of his generation to have a monograph published on his work. Public awareness of his painting was further increased in 1956 and 1957, when a short documentary film about his work was seen in public theatres throughout the country. Changes in the landscape, pacific images and the inclusion of found objects such as shells and stones were themes running through his work throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Lee-Johnson is represented in all major collections throughout the country, including the national art collection at theMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa,all public galleries, theHocken Collections,andAlexander Turnbull Library.A retrospective exhibition of his paintings and drawings toured New Zealand in 1981–82.
In addition to his painting, Lee-Johnson was also a freelance photographer who documented the daily life of New Zealanders from the early 1950s through to the 1970s. His photographs were as widely known as his paintings – including images ofOpo the Dolphin,and scenes of New Zealand life. Lee-Johnson had intended his photography to form a picture library the use of which would finance his art. The collection of tens of thousands of negatives and the copyright was purchased by theMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewain 1997, four years after his death.
References
[edit]- Ferner Galleries Biography
- Shadbolt, Maurice."Eric Albert Lee-Johnson".Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.Ministry for Culture and Heritage.Retrieved23 April2017.
