THE SOUL OF A CHILD
“When I was 6 years old my mother told me I had a soul. I couldn’t know at that age what that meant but I remembered the question... a mystery that has occupied my awareness at odd times throughout my life...” - John M Johansen
THE DOG-CAT HOUSE
Johansen created many structures in his childhood, including this one (left), built from wooden blocks when he was just 3-and-one-half years of age.
The drawing of this block-structure, done by his mother, includes her notes:
“One side of pens (cages) for dogs, stairs for cats, steps for little boys to play on”
“Construction building blocks by John McLane Johansen 31/2 years age” and
“Found on floor in his mother’s room by bed - when retiring”.
Painted by Jean MacLane Johansen, John Johansen (above, age 18) is shown with his father, John C. Johansen (1876 - 1964), a renowned portraitist whose subjects included President Herbert Hoover and members of the historic signing of the Treaty of Versailles (above).
The painting of John Johansen and his sister (above) was done by their mother, Jean MacLane Johansen
(1878 - 1964), a portraitist whose subjects included Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Johansen fondly remembers
his mother as a gifted painter, “a liberated woman, unusual for that time.”
"We are all trying to express through our chosen medium that order of beauty, that glimpse of eternal fact which we ourselves have witnessed. No matter how perfectly others have done it, still it remains to the healthy creative mind forever unsaid. We must concentrate like a wireless operator until we get the message over... The artist must never think what they will think. He must follow the urge within, rather than the lure without. ”
- Jean MacLane Johansen