geometric stylization, deliberate artificiality and dramatic use <strong>of</strong> perspective to create space within <strong>the</strong> picture are quite different, and closer to Edward Wadsworth, whose work <strong>Johnson</strong> almost certainly saw in London in 1936. They also indicate an interest in cubism, particularly The Fortune Teller, with its faceted planes, but as with many artists such as Metzinger and le Fauconnier, <strong>the</strong>y do not analyse and restructure <strong>the</strong> image in any depth, but adapt a still representational object in an illusionistic space using a superficially geometric manner. The 1950s were to see <strong>Johnson</strong> use his study <strong>of</strong> cubism to break down pictorial space and his use <strong>of</strong> collage reveals a thorough grasp <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> innovations <strong>of</strong> Picasso and Braque. In subject matter, too, <strong>the</strong>se three paintings are unusual and <strong>the</strong>y demonstrate three areas that <strong>Johnson</strong> continued to explore in his work. His love <strong>of</strong> cities, particularly Dublin, was balanced by an anger at <strong>the</strong> social injustice that was so evident and <strong>the</strong> destructive nature <strong>of</strong> urban life, seen most dramatically in his photography <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> early 1960s. The Fortune Teller shows <strong>the</strong> wit that comes through so strongly in <strong>Johnson</strong>’s work, but ideas <strong>of</strong> magic and its redemptive and regenerative power remain as a strong element in his work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> post-war era. Finally, <strong>the</strong> ra<strong>the</strong>r barren scene at Kilkeel, stripped <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people one would expect to see <strong>the</strong>re, prefigures <strong>the</strong> ravaged apocalyptic wastelands that dominate <strong>Johnson</strong>’s work until <strong>the</strong> 1960s. <strong>Johnson</strong> writes <strong>of</strong> memories <strong>of</strong> a family picnic at Kilkeel on <strong>the</strong> day that Hiroshima was bombed, in his autobiography, contrasting <strong>the</strong> idyllic peace <strong>of</strong> family life in County Down with <strong>the</strong> potential evil <strong>of</strong> mankind and <strong>the</strong> horror <strong>of</strong> global events. All <strong>the</strong>se works demonstrate <strong>Johnson</strong>’s use <strong>of</strong> dramatic perspective, and this was almost an obsession in his early studies as an artist, working from books until he had <strong>the</strong> control evident in all <strong>the</strong>se works. Shipyard, Kilkeel was exhibited in 1944 at <strong>the</strong> ‘Annual Exhibition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arts and Crafts’ sponsored by <strong>the</strong> Belfast feis, on loan from Mr and Mrs J.W. Lutton, <strong>the</strong> first record we have <strong>of</strong> <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> exhibiting work. The fact <strong>of</strong> it being on loan suggests that it might have been a commission, as was ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earliest extant examples <strong>of</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong>’s work, Linenscape. This tempera painting is an imaginatively surreal rendering <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local shoreline, placed along it <strong>the</strong> individual parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mechanism <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> linen looms which had contributed so greatly to <strong>the</strong> economic prosperity <strong>of</strong> Ulster and which, ironically, could not have failed to remind <strong>Johnson</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> source <strong>of</strong> his own family’s fortune. The cliffs and mountains <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> north Antrim coastline in <strong>the</strong> distance are draped with crisp linen. Its clean, high-pitched colours, tightly-finished surface and cleverly arranged composition are all likely to have drawn something from <strong>Johnson</strong>’s friendship with Luke, but Linenscape is a complete and individual work. It uses <strong>the</strong> inventive freedom which surrealism bestowed on this next generation <strong>of</strong> artists without simply borrowing its imagery and jokes. It also demonstrates an interest in mechanics; <strong>Johnson</strong>’s desire to understand how machines worked led to a number <strong>of</strong> later inventions which <strong>the</strong> artist patented. This enlightened commission perhaps hints at <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong>’s charm and his understanding <strong>of</strong> 16 <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> l <strong>Paint</strong> <strong>the</strong> Smell <strong>of</strong> Grass Kilkeel Shipyard <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> l The Belfast years 1934–1946 17
18 <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> l <strong>Paint</strong> <strong>the</strong> Smell <strong>of</strong> Grass Winter Landscape Linenscape <strong>Nevill</strong> <strong>Johnson</strong> l The Belfast years 1934–1946 19