Biography
Margaret Kennard Johnson was an American printmaker, papermaker, and mixed-media artist whose career spanned seven decades and bridged the worlds of Western printmaking and Japanese art. Born in 1918, she studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1941, before completing a Master of Design at the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design in 1943. In 1944, she studied with Josef Albers and Jose de Creeft at Black Mountain College, absorbing the Bauhaus-influenced approach to materials and process that would inform her lifelong practice.
Johnson's artistic language encompassed intaglio, relief printing, collagraph, and handmade paperwork, often incorporating unconventional materials such as wire, mesh, foil, rusted metal, and embedded vellum. Her prints and paper works explore tensions between fragility and strength, order and chance, with titles like 'Wishing to Fly But Held Down by Paperwork' and 'From Under Shifting Sands' reflecting her interest in the poetics of material transformation. Her handmade papers, constructed from cotton and abaca pulp, frequently embed found objects that create unexpected visual narratives within the paper itself.
Johnson's connection to Japan was deep and sustained. She spent over eight years in the country and co-authored the book 'Japanese Prints Today,' a significant survey of contemporary Japanese printmaking. In 1984, she was awarded Junior Membership in the Japan Print Association in Tokyo, a rare distinction for non-Japanese artists that recognized her contributions to the field. She exhibited at the Tolman Gallery in Tokyo in 1995, with Allison Tolman later writing about her work in 'Margaret Kennard Johnson Looking Within' for Daruma Japanese Art magazine in 2005.
Throughout her career, Johnson taught extensively, including positions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1946 to 1971, Pratt Institute, and various other institutions. Based in Princeton, New Jersey from 1948, she received numerous awards including the Artist/Teacher of the Year from Artworks, The School of Visual Arts in Princeton/Trenton (2000), and a Marquis Who's Who listing (2007). Her works are held in permanent collections including the British Museum, the Library of Congress, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the New Jersey State Museum, and institutions in Greece and Japan.
Key Facts
- Active Period
- 1918–2015
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Subjects
- Abstract
- Works Indexed
- 13
Frequently Asked Questions
Margaret Kennard Johnson was an American printmaker, papermaker, and mixed-media artist whose career spanned seven decades and bridged the worlds of Western printmaking and Japanese art. Born in 1918, she studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1941, before completing a Master of Design at the University of Michigan School of Architecture and Design in 1943. In 1944, she studied with Josef Albers and Jose de Creeft at Black Mountain College, absorbing the Bauhaus-influenced approach to materials and process that would inform her lifelong practice.
Margaret Kennard Johnson was active from 1918 to 2015. They were associated with the Contemporary Mokuhanga movement.
Margaret Kennard Johnson's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Margaret Kennard Johnson's prints frequently feature abstract.
Margaret Kennard Johnson is a gallery-represented printmaker whose work has been shown at established galleries specializing in contemporary Japanese prints. As a deceased artist, the supply is finite. Prices range from $200 for smaller works to $5,000 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $480–$1600 range. Gallery representation provides curated exposure and supports steady demand.
