New acquisition: Raymon Jonson

High Museum of Art

The High Museum of Art, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is strategically expanding its collection by acquiring an astounding 591 artworks. The new collection includes work by American designer Isamu Noguchi, a painting by Nigerian modernist Ben Enwonwu, a mixed media work by contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas and a painting by American modernist Raymond Jonson.

“In 2024, our curators intentionally and thoughtfully acquired artworks that build upon strengths in our existing holdings and also offer new pathways for deeper audience engagement, two of the hallmark goals of our collecting program,” said director Rand Suffolk.

Raymond Jonson (1891-1982), City Forces,1932. Oil on canvas, 37 x 68 in., High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable, 2024.11.

One such highlight is City Forces, 1932, by Jonson (1891-1982), known for his depictions of the American Southwest. The museum adds, “Raymond Jonson was one of the key artistic figures active in New Mexico beginning in 1924, when he cofounded the Transcendentalist Painting Group alongside Emil Bisttram.”

Jonson, raised in Portland, Oregon, was formally trained at the Museum Art School of the Portland Art Association and the Art Institute of Chicago. The artist worked from 1912 to 1917 as the lighting, stage set and costume and graphic designer for the Chicago Little Theatre. Jonson found time to take periodic trips to the West to draw and paint, and when he became disillusioned with urban life, he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. “In New Mexico, Jonson tirelessly advocated modernism through teaching and organizing exhibitions,” shares the National Gallery of Art. “He painted increasingly abstract landscapes in New Mexico until he developed a signature geometric style.”

City Forces is the first in a series that Jonson first began in 1932 after visiting New York, Philadelphia and Chicago—two of the later works are in other museum collections, three are in private collections and one has an unknown location. “In addition to capturing the vigor and dynamism of industry and urban life, this series is significant for being the last objective painting of Jonson’s career, as he subsequently moved completely to spiritually infused nonobjective painting,” say High Museum representatives.

This painting adds to the High’s holdings of works by lesser-known interwar modernist artists including Joseph Stella, Lawrence Lebduska and Hale Woodruff. —