BEN (FRANKLIN) JOHNSON American, 1902-1967 Reclining Nude on Red, 1959 Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. Vibrant composition with a high-contrast palette—specifically the interplay between the warm ochre of the skin and the fiery red ground—suggests a sense of energy and physical presence typical of the Fauvist influence on American figurative art. Framed. 42 x 49 inches; frame: 48 x 55 inches $800-1,200
ARTIST PROFILE: Ben Johnson (1902 –1967) was a New York-born painter celebrated for his unique, stylized approach to the female form. Born in Brooklyn and educated at the Pratt Institute, he was recognized early in his career as a Tiffany Scholar (1930–1933). After a twelve-year hiatus from the art world devoted to religious activities, Johnson returned to painting in the 1950s with a renewed focus on monumental female nudes and abstract figures. His work is characterized by a "hard-edge" technique that combined bold, flat colors with a Rubens-like fleshiness, often featuring subjects wearing elaborate, flower-filled hats—a signature motif inspired by his wife, the artist Alice Terry. By the 1960s, he had achieved significant acclaim in the New York art scene, exhibiting at the Whitney Museum of American Art and contributing a notable interpretation of the "Playmate as Fine Art" for Playboy magazine in 1967.
