Anne Johann [NRA 2012]

First name: Anne ; 
Middle name:  ;
Last name: Johann ;

Member: Non- resident artist member; 
Begin: 2012 ;
End:  n/a ;

Biography:

A little bit about me and why I create the art that I do:
I always ‘knew’ that I was an artist. As a child, I drew all the time. My mother was my first teacher. She had considered studying art, but in her native Scotland, there weren’t many jobs for artists at that time, apart from teaching. By the age of twelve I had painted my first oils, and was allowed to venture into Manhattan on my own to visit my father (also an artist) at the advertising studio where he worked. Afterwards I would explore the Museum of Modern Art located nearby. I always started on the top floor with Picasso’s Guernica, and then to Monet’s Water Lilies, and Matisse’s The Dance. I was enthralled by the BIG paintings!

Growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley, the majestic Hudson River, the fjords of the Hudson Highlands, and miles of reservoirs made a great impression on me and no doubt planted the seed for landscape painting in my psyche. Vacations in Maine at an early age left a lasting love of the Maine seashore. During these vacations my father would take some time to go off on his own to paint watercolors. Just as Maine was a muse for my father, so it continues for me.

I majored in Art and French in High School; it was no surprise that I decided to study Fine Art. Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, is my Alma Mater and where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with Highest Honors. While I was living in Eastern Long Island after Pratt, my roommate from college days told me about a figure painting class at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts in Manhattan. The teacher was Ronald Sherr. I enrolled and it was fabulous! Some years later I took a portraiture workshop with Daniel Greene in North Salem, NY. These teachers and their classes were transformational for me. From the figure and portrait work with Sherr and Greene I gained a greater understanding of oil painting technique and painting the figure; I applied what I learned to landscape. The next step on my journey was to take time to work, and juggle the other demands of life.

In my quest to grow as an artist and enhance my work, I study the masters old and new, and refresh my knowledge of Art History. My fascination with water originated with an interest in Asian art, specifically Chinese ink paintings from the Sung Dynasty. In these paintings, water (yin) balances mountain (yang). Metaphysics and Feng Shui also played a role. This is why water is almost always included in my work. From there, the reflective and abstract qualities of water have become an endless source of intrigue.
My paintings have received numerous awards and have been exhibited in venues such as The National Arts Club, NYC; The Salmagundi Club, NYC; Lyme Art Association Gallery, Old Lyme, CT; Silvermine Guild Gallery, New Canaan, CT; Cape Cod Museum of Art, MA; Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA; Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, RI; Sherry French Gallery, NYC. My juried memberships include the Salmagundi Club and the New Haven Paint & Clay Club.

https://www.annejohann.com/

Artworks: