Fonds F 180 - David Johnson fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

David Johnson fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material

Parallel title

Description type

Private

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

F 180

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • [195-?]-2008 (Creation)
    Creator
    Johnson, David, 1928-2013

Physical description area

Physical description

1.030m of textual records
302 photographs
281 paintings
65 drawings
10 photographs : negatives

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1918-2013)

Biographical history

David Johnson was born in England in 1928, and attended public schools near London. Despite an interest in art, he attended Loughbourough College from 1946-1948 and became a teacher. However, in 1950 he began night and Sunday classes at a local art school, and in 1952 won a four year scholarship to the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting. Completing his degree in 1956, he continued to study as a graduate scholar at Byam Shaw until 1957. It was also during this time that he studied classical draughtsmanship and stained glass. Johnson spent six years as studio assistant to renowned English mural artist Brian Thomas, doing work on windows at Westminster Abbey, the chapel of the Order of the British Empire and the American Memorial Chapel at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Johnson immigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1973 with his wife and six children. He worked first for Encyclopaedia Britannica (Manitoba-Saskatchewan region), but in 1978 resumed working full-time as an artist. He started his company, David Johnson Studio, in 1979 (the company was incorporated in 1984). The family settled in Regina, Saskatchewan and Johnson designed his first Canadian windows in Wawota, Moose Jaw and Regina during 1979. He was elected a professional member of the Stained Glass Association of America, based on recommendations from clients and existing members, and continued to hold membership in the British Society of Master Glass Painters. His studio work focused on conservation, restoration and original stained glass pieces. The majority of the windows created were for churches throughout Saskatchewan and Ontario; however, Johnson created works in almost every other province in Canada. While the studio was in operation, Johnson was active in the art scene in Saskatchewan as a director of Neutral Ground Gallery (Regina), and as a director of Saskatchewan Architectural Heritage Society and Heritage Regina. He also worked as the arts editor for Grain, a publication for Saskatchewan writers and artists, contributed articles to the Commonwealth and was commissioned for several sculptures and portrait paintings.

In 1996, David Johnson and his wife Christine moved to Tyvan, Saskatchewan. Johnson was awarded the Municipal Heritage Award from the City of Regina in 1997 for his interior restoration work. He was also awarded with the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Heritage Architecture Excellence Award in 2007 in the Exterior Restoration category, and in 2010 in the Adaptive Reuse category . Johnson's commissioned works included portraits, sculptures, courtroom drawings for television and stained glass in churches, hospitals, commercial sites and homes.

David Johnson died near Tyvan on December 14, 2013.

Custodial history

Scope and content

This fonds consists of records created, accumulated and used by David Johnson in his work as an artist from the 1950s to 2008. The records include project working files of David Johnson Studio, Inc. relating to stained glass commissions for homes, public buildings and churches. The fonds also includes Johnson's original design paintings in the medium of gouache; court trial sketches, primarily of the Colin Thatcher murder trial, in pen, pencil and watercolour; and photographs of selected artistic works of Johnson's including sculptures, drawings, paintings and prints.

The fonds has been arranged into four series: Project Files; Designs for Stained Glass Windows and Artwork; Other Artistic Works and Personal.

The types of records included are paintings, drawings, photographs, correspondence and clippings.

Notes area

Physical condition

Records are in good physical condition.
Some of the rolled paintings are dirty and/or fragile.

Immediate source of acquisition

David Johnson donated these records to the Regina office, Saskatchewan Archives in six accessions between 1996 and 2008: R96-441 (August 22, 1996); R2003-235 (July 22, 2003); R2003-243 (July 29, 2003); R2004-230 (July 14, 2004); and R2006-179 (April 21, 2006); 2008-188 (August 6, 2008).

Arrangement

Arrangement reflects both original alphabetical order and archival intervention. Series titles supplied by archivist. File titles provided by records creator except where indicated in square brackets.
Certain photographs have been retained in the textual record to preserve context. (R-1525: Files I.6, I.39, I.44, I.45, I.49, I.66, I.87, I.100, I.109, I.159, I.173, I.174, I.175, I.176, I.187)

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Records are open for research use.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Use, publication and/or reproduction of records may be subject to terms and conditions of the Copyright Act and/ or a donor agreement.

To consult the records, visit or contact the Regina office.

Finding aids

SAFA 91 (old guide GR 586) consists of a fonds level description, file level listings of textual records, and item level descriptions of the paintings and drawings.

Uploaded finding aid

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

General note

Location for retrieval: Regina - Hillsdale.

Conservation

Conservation practices in place at the time of arrangement were applied to records in old guide GR 586. In 2006 and 2008, archival staff replaced the original file folders with acid-free folders. If notations existed on the file folders, they were photocopied and placed in the front of the file. Newspaper clippings and facsimiles were photocopied by archival staff.
Oversize records were stored in appropriate oversize storage, and paintings and drawings were separated by acid-free tissue paper.

Alpha-numeric designations

Textual records: old guide GR 586 (R-1525).
Paintings: R-D2249 to R-D2407, R-D2538 to R-D2577, R-D2599 to R-D2609, R-D2659 to R-D2703, R-D2707 to R-D2731.
Drawings: R-D2578 (1)-(61), R-D2658, R-D2704 to R-D2706.
Photographs: R-A34555 to R-A34583 (1)-(10), R-B14554 (1)-(2) to R-B14607 (1)-(10).

Alternative identifier(s)

Original ID

112

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

F 180

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Saskatchewan Archives. Archival Description Manual 2004.

Status

Final

Level of detail

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

  • Latin

Sources

Content of the fonds.

Accession area

Related people and organizations

Related genres