John Young Johnstone

1887-1930

John Y. Johnstone was born in Montreal, Quebec. He studied at the Art Association of Montreal under William Brymner and later went to Paris where he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In Europe he travelled to France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland.

He first exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal in 1911 and did so on occasion until 1925. He also exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy from 1915 to 1923. Recognition came in his late twenties when the National Gallery of Canada acquired a painting in 1915. The National Gallery also acquired some of his paintings in 1916, 1922 and 1924. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1920 and was also a member of the Pen and Pencil Club. During his career, money was sometimes scarce, and at one point he took up teaching at the Conseil des Arts et Manufactures in Montreal.

Very little is known about the facts concerning his life. He painted many landscapes in the area of Quebec City and Île d'Orléans, where he visited Canadian artist Horatio Walker. He was mainly a solitary man, had a reclusive personality and lived a nomadic existence. Furthermore, towards the end of his life, he was a heavy drinker. He was found dead in Havana, Cuba, in 1930 where he arrived only six weeks earlier. He died at the age of 42.

Collections:

- National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC)
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, QC)
- Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (Quebec, QC)
- Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, (Montreal, QC)
- Musée de la Civilisation (Quebec, QC)
- Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON)
- Musée du bas St-Laurent (Rivière-du-Loup, QC)
- The Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, ON)
- Power Corporation of Canada (Montreal, QC)

Affiliations:

- Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy (1920)
- Pen and Pencil Club