John Seward Johnson II
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| John Seward Johnson II | |
| Born | 1930 New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Sculptor |
| Parents | J. Seward Johnson, Sr. |
John Seward Johnson II (born 1930), also known as J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and Seward Johnson is an American sculptor known for his trompe l'oeil bronze painted sculptures. While early in his life, his artistic life focused on painting, he turned his talents to sculpture in 1968. Mr. Johnson is most well known for his life-size cast bronze statues of people of all ages engaged in day-to-day activities such as a father teaching his child to ride a bike, a woman sunbathing, and two people on a park bench. He is the son of J. Seward Johnson, Sr.
Examples of his work include:
- The Awakening (1980), his largest and most dramatic work, is a 70-foot five-part sculpture that brings to life a giant trying to free himself. It was located at Hains Point in Washington, D.C., for nearly 28 years, but was sold and relocated to Prince George's County, Maryland in February 2008,
- Double Check (1982), a statue of a man checking his briefcase. It was in Liberty Plaza Park across from the World Trade Center. Photos of the damaged and dust covered statue were among the iconic photographs taken following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. A restored statue has been returned to the now-renamed Zuccotti Park,
- Hitchhiker (1983), a statue along the side of a road leading away from the campus of Hofstra University,
- Allow Me (1984), a statue of man holding an umbrella, located in Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon,
- First Ride, a statue of a father helping his young daughter learn to ride a bike, and
- Déjeuner Déjà Vu (1994), located at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, a three-dimensional recreation of Edouard Manet's painting, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe. [3]
He is past President of the International Sculpture Center of Washington, D.C., and created the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture, an educational, non-profit art casting and fabrication facility, in 1974 as a means of fostering young sculptors' talents. He was selected by the United States Information Agency as the only sculptor to represent the United States at the World EXPO celebration in Seville, Spain.
He is the grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, the founder of Johnson & Johnson Corporation. He was disinherited from his father's will, which left nearly all of his father's half-billion-dollar fortune to Basia Johnson, his father's wife of twelve years, a former servant. The dispute was written about in Undue Influence: The Epic Battle for the Johnson & Johnson Fortune (1993, ISBN 0-688-06425-6).
Johnson's nephew, Jamie (son of Jimmy Johnson), produced and directed a 2003 documentary, Born Rich, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO to generally favorable reviews.
In addition to his artistic endeavors, Johnson is the former President of a large oceanographic research institution in Florida, the publisher of a science magazine, and the founder of an off-Broadway theater in New York. A comprehensive book, Celebrating the Familiar: The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. (ISBN 0-912383-57-7), was published in 1987.
His 2003 show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, "Beyond the Frame: Impressionism Revisited," which was sculptures of famous Impressionist paintings, was a success with audiences but was critically panned.[1][2]
