Camp Borden 1919

Frank Johnston made this oil painting, Camp Borden, with what feels like a real sense of atmosphere. The overall tonality of the piece is achieved with an expressive approach to brushwork, and a limited palette of earthy yellows, browns, and blues. Look closely, and you'll notice that the paint is applied in loose, gestural strokes, building up texture and depth, especially in the rendering of the clouds which hang heavy on the horizon. The colours are translucent in places, giving a sense of the light shifting across the landscape. That cluster of darker marks running through the middle ground are intriguing. They seem to reference buildings, structures which draw the eye and provide a sense of scale to the rest of the composition. Johnston was a contemporary of Georgia O'Keefe and you can really see a similar approach to landscape and abstraction in the works of both artists. Ultimately, this is a picture about process, where the artist's hand is visible in every mark. It reminds us that art is a conversation, an ongoing dialogue between artists across time.