Lot 202
WILLIAM JOHNSTONE O.B.E. (SCOTTISH 1897-1981) §
UNTITLED
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale | Lots 109 to 207 | Thursday 04 December 2025 from 6pm
Description
Signed and dated 1926 to verso, oil on board
Dimensions
61cm x 76cm (24in x 30in)
Provenance
William Hardie Ltd., Glasgow
Footnote
William Johnstone was born into a farming family in the Scottish Borders and was expected to inherit the farm and continue the family profession. Johnstone, however, had other ideas and like many artists felt the ever-forceful need for a creative outlet. Rebelling, he left the farm to pursue his passion for art, enrolling at Edinburgh College of Art in 1919. With no one to take over the farm, his father sold it, a decision that left Johnstone with a lasting sense of guilt. Yet his subsequent achievements, as both an artist and educator, demonstrated that he had chosen the right path.
In 1925, Johnstone travelled to Paris on a scholarship awarded by the Royal Scottish Academy, where he was introduced to Cubism and Surrealism. This experience opened his eyes to new techniques and ideas, inspiring him to move beyond representation and to explore abstraction, making him one of the first British artists to do so.
Johnstone’s influence extended well beyond his own work. As Principal of Camberwell College of Art (1938–46) and later Principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts (1947–60), both in London, he played a vital role in shaping British art education. His teaching profoundly affected a generation of artists and he employed many leading figures including Patrick Heron, Eduardo Paolozzi and Victor Pasmore.
Johnstone’s father was quoted as saying to him ‘You belong to the land, and some day, no matter how you resent it, you will have to go back to that land’. And so he did, in 1960, when he returned home to the Borders to concentrate on painting and farming.
