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拍品专文
Among the most instantly recognizable subjects in the Western art genre are the nocturnes of Frank Tenney Johnson. The Night Hawk represents the finest among these unique and atmospheric works that have become the artist’s signature imagery. A highly meticulous artist, Johnson developed his own specific formula of pigments to make an underpainting, then set aside his canvases for a year or more to achieve the perfect base for his rich and luminous night scenes. Harold McCracken writes, “He was very particular about everything he did. That is why his paintings are so consistently good. But he was especially particular when he painted a nocturne…they are unquestionably the ultimate in this artist’s work.” (The Frank Tenney Johnson Book, Garden City, New York, 1974, p. 142)
The Night Hawk exemplifies Johnson’s unparalleled skill in executing powerful night scenes, perhaps next only to those of Frederic Remington. Indeed, “in technical terms, he is perhaps closer in spirit to the later Remington style than any other Western painter.” (P.H. Hassrick, History of Western American Art, New York, 1987, p. 134) While conveying darkness using deep blues and earth tones, the artist illuminates the solitary horse and cowboy with a bright cast of implied moonlight. Isolated in a vast landscape, the lone protagonist and his faithful companion represent two of the most important heroes of the West as depicted throughout the artist’s esteemed career.
Johnson’s unique and earnest take on frontier life earned him the reputation as one of the most celebrated artists of the American West. Johnson was first exposed to the painting of Western subjects by his studies with horse painter F.W. Heine and Western artist George Lorenz. These earlier influences, coupled with later studies at the Art Students League in New York, where he made the acquaintance of Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase, gave his art a unique mood and distinctive style. After school, Johnson gained commercial success and popularity after a lucrative illustration commission from Field and Stream brought him to Colorado, where he solidified the heroic cowboy archetype as the primary subject of what would become a successful career as one of a very limited number of Western artists accepted into the National Academy.
The Night Hawk exemplifies Johnson’s unparalleled skill in executing powerful night scenes, perhaps next only to those of Frederic Remington. Indeed, “in technical terms, he is perhaps closer in spirit to the later Remington style than any other Western painter.” (P.H. Hassrick, History of Western American Art, New York, 1987, p. 134) While conveying darkness using deep blues and earth tones, the artist illuminates the solitary horse and cowboy with a bright cast of implied moonlight. Isolated in a vast landscape, the lone protagonist and his faithful companion represent two of the most important heroes of the West as depicted throughout the artist’s esteemed career.
Johnson’s unique and earnest take on frontier life earned him the reputation as one of the most celebrated artists of the American West. Johnson was first exposed to the painting of Western subjects by his studies with horse painter F.W. Heine and Western artist George Lorenz. These earlier influences, coupled with later studies at the Art Students League in New York, where he made the acquaintance of Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase, gave his art a unique mood and distinctive style. After school, Johnson gained commercial success and popularity after a lucrative illustration commission from Field and Stream brought him to Colorado, where he solidified the heroic cowboy archetype as the primary subject of what would become a successful career as one of a very limited number of Western artists accepted into the National Academy.