Georgetown Paintings
Mitchell Johnson Georgetown Paintings 1988-2024
Below is a new Georgetown painting inspired by a campus tour I took with my son while he was doing his college search in 2018. I’ve made a number of Georgetown paintings over the last six years. This one was started shortly after seeing the early Mark Rothko subway paintings on view in Paris in March, 2024. Somehow that show reminded me of this composition - the strange mash up of architecture. I finished this last week after turning it to the wall for nine months. The Rothko Paris exhibit included a couple of great studio photos. I always thought his studio was in a synagogue on the lower east side. I was stunned to see the address of his studio on the Bowery listed in a photo caption. I discovered at the exhibit that my NYC bedroom window on Elizabeth Street (during grad school) faced the back of Rothko’s studio.
This is a view of some dorms that have a balcony or terrace that overlooks the Potomac River and the boathouse for the crew team. I wonder how many people notice the bizarre geometry at this position. I suspect most people are looking down at the river or at the Key Bridge.
I made another one called Georgetown Two in 1988.
Sorry the images are a little blurry.
Below is Georgetown Three from 2020. The introduction of the stripes was very intuitive and at one point that was happening a lot. Now, when I feel a painting needs to change, to become more mysterious or unexpected, I’m more likely to change a color in the actual composition instead of introducing colors as in the stripes, or perhaps I’ll introduce a thing, a window, a person.
From 1986-1988 I studied at the Washington Studio School at it’s original location on P Street, not far from the famous cafe, Au Pied de Cochon, on Wisconsin Avenue. I drove to the WSS every evening after work to paint and draw from a model or still-life. The WSS is where I learned to love Morandi, Chardin and Corot. I got a portfolio together and was able to squeeze into the graduate painting program at Parsons in New York City. I have a lot of memories of Georgetown that came flooding in during my son’s campus tour.
In 1988 shortly before moving to NYC I made the painting below on P Street in Georgetown. Thirty years later I’ve used the red fire alarms on the streets in San Francisco to perform the same role.
