Franz Johnston 1888-1949

Franz Johnston 1888-1949

Photo by Alan L Brown - June 28, 2004

Franz Johnston 1888-1949

Photo by Alan L Brown - June 28, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Simcoe
The Township of Tiny
In Wyebridge, on the east side of Highway 93 between the bridge and Mill Street

Plaque Text

This was the home and studio, 1940-48, of the noted Canadian painter Francis Hans (Franz) Johnston. Born in Toronto, he studied there and in the United States, and at first worked as a commercial artist. An official war artist, 1917-18, he participated in the first exhibition of the Group of Seven in 1920. With others of the Group, he captured on canvas the lonely grandeur of the Canadian northland, thus ending Canadian dependence on Europe for artistic inspiration and inaugurating our first national art movement. Johnston, who was principal of the Winnipeg School of Art, 1921-24, also taught in Toronto, 1927-29, and from then until 1940 conducted summer classes on Georgian Bay.