John C. Johansen

Johansen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He began his formal training at the Art Institute of Chicago with Frank Duveneck, a noted realist artist. Johansen then traveled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian followed by a brief period with James A. M. Whistler. Johansen returned to the United States and established a studio in New York. He was elected as an Associate Member of the National Academy in 1911. Full membership came four years later. He exhibited at the American Federation of Arts, the McDowell Club, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the St. Louis Worlds’ Fair.

His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art; the National Gallery, Santiago, Chile; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; the Richmond Museum in Indiana; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 1959, Paul Manship memorialized Johansen in a commemorative medal.