Patterned Hillside

Frank Johnston’s Bold Vision: The Making of Patterned Hillside

In the autumn of 1918, as the Great War drew to a close, Frank Johnston retreated to the rural landscapes of Ontario, where he painted Patterned Hillside—a work that would become a defining example of Canadian Post-Impressionism. Unlike the muted tones of his earlier Group of Seven sketches, this composition explodes with geometric energy, its angular trees and striated hillsides revealing Johnston’s fascination with Cézanne’s structured brushwork. The painting’s vibrant palette and rhythmic repetition of forms mark a deliberate shift from naturalism toward a more expressive, almost decorative approach to landscape.

Johnston’s time in Europe had exposed him to the bold color theories of the Fauves and the fractured planes of Cubism, yet Patterned Hillside remains distinctly rooted in the Canadian wilderness. The work’s title itself hints at its duality: the “patterned” hills are both observed and invented, a fusion of nature’s irregularity with the artist’s deliberate hand. As the Art Story notes, Johnston’s early 1920s output often balanced “the tension between representation and abstraction,” a quality nowhere more evident than in this 1918 canvas. Here, the landscape becomes a stage for formal experimentation—each stroke a declaration of modernism’s arrival in Canada.

From the Group of Seven to a Solo Vision: Johnston’s 1918 Turning Point

By 1918, Frank Johnston had already cemented his reputation as a founding member of the Group of Seven, yet Patterned Hillside signals his growing restlessness with the collective’s shared aesthetic. While his peers—Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald—sought to distill the Canadian landscape into spiritual essences, Johnston’s work from this period embraces a more tactile, almost architectural approach. The painting’s interlocking planes of color reflect his study of Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire series, but the palette—burnt oranges, deep greens, and unexpected violets—is unmistakably his own.

This period also marked Johnston’s brief but intense engagement with commercial design, a influence visible in the work’s graphic clarity. The National Galleries of Scotland has drawn parallels between Johnston’s 1918–1920 canvases and the patterns of Arts and Crafts textiles, suggesting that his fine art and decorative work fed into one another. Patterned Hillside thus occupies a liminal space: too bold for traditional landscape painting, yet too grounded in observation to be pure abstraction.

Johnston’s genius in Patterned Hillside lies in his ability to make the land feel both ancient and invented—a topography of the mind as much as of Ontario’s backcountry.

The Craft Behind the Canvas: How Patterned Hillside Was Made

Composition: The Grid Beneath the Wild

Close examination reveals that Johnston began with a lightly penciled grid, dividing the canvas into thirds both horizontally and vertically. This underlying structure allowed him to distribute the composition’s weight evenly, despite the apparent chaos of the brushwork. The central tree—rendered in near-black—acts as a fulcrum, with the hillside’s diagonal stripes radiating outward like contours on a topographic map. Unlike the Group of Seven’s often horizontal landscapes, Johnston’s vertical emphasis here creates a sense of upward momentum, as if the viewer is climbing the hill rather than observing it from afar.

Color: A Palette of Contrasts

The painting’s chromatic intensity comes from Johnston’s use of complementary contrasts: the orange-brown hills against patches of lavender sky, the deep greens of the foreground foliage set beside flashes of cadmium red. Art historians have noted that he applied these colors in thin, translucent glazes—layering them while wet to achieve a luminous effect. The result is a landscape that feels simultaneously sun-drenched and shadowed, a technique Johnston likely adapted from his studies of Turner’s later works during his 1913 trip to London.

Where to Display Patterned Hillside: A Designer’s Perspective

This print’s dynamic composition and warm palette make it a versatile statement piece, but its impact depends on thoughtful placement. In a modern living room, position the 30×40 cm print above a low, linear sofa to echo the painting’s horizontal bands; pair it with neutral furnishings in linen or light oak to let the colors dominate. For a home office, the artwork’s structured energy complements minimalist desks and dark wood shelving—try hanging it opposite a window to balance natural light with its autumnal tones. Avoid overly busy walls: Patterned Hillside demands space to breathe. In larger rooms, consider floating it between two sconces to emphasize its graphic quality, or grouping it with smaller black-and-white photographs for contrast.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Works by Frank Johnston

Explore the evolution of Johnston’s style, from his early Group of Seven landscapes to his later experiments in pattern and color.

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The Shadowed Valley

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Thunderers

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Serenity Lake Of The Woods

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Frank Johnston

Moose Pond

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