'Pink Tulips' - Still Life Painting By Frederick Roberts Johnson

A stylised, almost abstract, painting of a bunch of tulip flowers in a vase by Frederick Roberts Johnson (1900–1986). Mixed media on papered board. Unglazed. Some patches of staining but we don't think this detracts from the strong composition of this artwork. Unsigned.

Johnson's inspiration of Cubism and Surrealism is evident in this stylised painting, making it so evocative of the 1920s/30s Art Deco era. Somewhat reminiscent of the works of A. M. Cassandre, another graphic artist working during this period.

Frederick Roberts Johnson was a British illustrator and painter. In 1924 he and his close friend, artist Arthur Wragg, visited Polperro in Cornwall and became enamoured with the fishing village. They rented a cottage there each summer throughout the 1930s becoming an integral part of its arts community. Johnson then acquired an old stone net loft in the village for use as a studio. He was an extremely successful commercial artist, with his illustrations featuring prominently in publications such as Punch, Everyman, and Time and Tide, as well as in advertisements that appeared on London buses and the Underground.

In 1942 he married Mimosa Wilson Cameron, an aspiring opera singer he met in Polperro. They settled in the village, raising two daughters there. The family moved to Totnes in 1957, although maintained a property in Polperro for weekends and holidays.