Walt Johnston (Born in 1932) is a well known contemporary realist who is good at looking at everything in the most modern way. He’s able to see the underlying abstract forms in everything he looks at, and then brings that vision to an astonishing reality as an image using the most ancient methods. This always results in the same type of image, a picture that’s very attractive and that’s often mistaken for a photograph. Johnston was born in Washington DC. His father was a very successful architect, and Johnson learned from him to draw at a very early age. At that early age, he also learned that drawing was not just to describe a person or a place or an object but to find the truth of the abject and the work.
During the Second World War, his family was moved to Illinois, and this is where Johnston studied at the Chicago Art Institute. As early as 1948, he had already earned national recognition and he later studied and taught with OHara Eliot NA, who’s a very famous watercolorist. Johnston’s search for the truth is a journey of exploration, and this journey that begins (or ends) with a thorough report in the form of an artwork Thus his artwork retains a linear and poignant quality very much in the technique of Wyeth, Hopper and Homer. Johnston’s work has always been exhibited at the top galleries, and they can be found in a number of leading museums and several private collections worldwide.
