Una Johnson (1905 – April 28, 1997) was an American

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

. She was the head curator of prints and drawings at the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

for more than 25 years.

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Dayton, Iowa, in 1905. She studied art history and literature at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Career

Johnson worked at the

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

before taking a job in 1936 as assistant curator of prints and drawings at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1937, she oversaw the purchase of a complete set of

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

's '' Caprichos'' print series for the museum's collection. When curator Carl O. Schniewiend retired in 1941, she was promoted to his position, which she would hold for the next 28 years. Johnson curated many major exhibitions for the Brooklyn Museum, including the first exhibition of the work of art dealer and publisher

Ambroise Vollard Ambroise Vollard (; 3 July 1866 – 21 July 1939) was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with being a major supporter an ...

(1941), the first exhibition of

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

prints in the United States (1942), the internationally recognized survey ''American Woodcuts 1670-1950'' (1950), and ''New Expressions in Fine Printmaking'' (1952). In 1947, she curated the Brooklyn Museum's first National Print Exhibition, an event she organized annually until 1968. During her tenure, the Brooklyn Museum made important acquisitions for its print collection, including works by Daumier, a collection of Japanese prints, and many contemporary European works. She published numerous books and monographs about printmaking, focusing on artists like

Georges Rouault Georges-Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris - 13 February 1958, Paris) was a French painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Childhood and education Rouault was born into a poor famil ...

Isabel Bishop Isabel Bishop (March 3, 1902 – February 19, 1988) was an American painter and graphic artist. Bishop studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she would later become an instructor. She was most notable fo ...

, and

Adja Yunkers Adja Yunkers (born Adolf Eduard Vilhelm Junker; 1900–1983) was an American Abstract art, abstract painter and printmaker. He was born in Riga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire in 1900. He studied art in Leningrad, Berlin, Paris, and Lon ...

. She was a

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

grant recipient, which enabled her to write a series of monographs about American artists including

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

and

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (; March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American Modern art, modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He wa ...

. Johnson also wrote catalogues raissone for the artists Karl Schrag and

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, ...

. Johnson retired from her post at the Brooklyn Museum in 1969 and was named a curator emeritus of the institution in 1973. She also spent three years as director of the

Storm King Art Center Storm King Art Center, commonly called Storm King and named for nearby Storm King Mountain, is an open-air museum in New Windsor, New York. It contains perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States. F ...

Mountainville, New York Mountainville is a hamlet in the western section of the town of Cornwall, in Orange County, New York, United States. It is mostly wooded, lightly populated area, located in the narrow valley of Woodbury and Moodna creeks between Schunemunk Mo ...

. In 1997, Johnson died at the age of 91 in New York City.

Selected publications

* ''Isabel Bishop, Prints and Drawings: 1925-1964'', Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Museum (1964) * ''American Woodcuts 1670-1950,'' Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Museum (1950) * ''Adja Yunkers: Prints 1927-1967,'' Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Museum (1969) * ''20th-Century Master Drawings'', Boston: Little, Brown (1976) * ''Ambroise Vollard, éditeur: prints, books, bronzes'', New York: Museum of Modern Art (1977) * ''American Prints and Printmakers'', Garden City, New York: Doubleday (1980)

References

External links

''Portrait of Una Johnson'' by Karl Schrag, 1974, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Una 1905 births 1997 deaths American art curators American women curators American art historians American women art historians 20th-century American women University of Chicago alumni Case Western Reserve University alumni