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Artists›Ynez Johnston

Ynez Johnston

Artist

PaintingLyrical Abstraction

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Movements

• Lyrical Abstraction

Related Artists

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Influence Graph

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Selected Institutional Exhibitions

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Young American Printmakers

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1953–1954

No image

Some American Prints, 1949�50, from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1951

No image

New Talent Exhibition in the Penthouse: Bunce, Johnston, and Mundt

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1950–1951

About

Why this artist matters now

Ynez Johnston was an American painter and printmaker active in postwar California. Working primarily in oil and etching, she developed a lyrical abstraction that merged gestural mark-making with organic, biomorphic forms. Johnston's practice bridged the gap between abstraction and representation, often suggesting landscapes or botanical subjects through non-literal means. Her work appeared in major West Coast institutions during the mid-twentieth century, establishing her as a significant figure in postwar American art.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Lyrical Abstraction

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (43)

Untitled

1970 · Lithograph

composition and sheet: 22 1/16 × 29 15/16" (56 × 76.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (The Black Pagoda IV) from The Black Pagoda

1966 · One from a series of ten lithographs

composition (irreg.): 28 7/8 × 21 1/16" (73.3 × 53.5 cm); sheet: 30 1/8 × 21 15/16" (76.5 × 55.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Voyages I) from Voyages

1966 · One from a series of six lithographs

composition (irreg.): 21 1/8 × 8" (53.6 × 20.3 cm); sheet: 22 3/16 × 8 1/4" (56.4 × 21 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Voyages V) from Voyages

1966 · One from a series of six lithographs

composition (irreg.): 10 1/2 × 6 7/8" (26.6 × 17.5 cm); sheet: 11 5/16 × 7 7/16" (28.7 × 18.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Voyages II) from Voyages

1966 · One from a series of six lithographs

composition (irreg.): 5 3/16 × 21 5/16" (13.2 × 54.2 cm); sheet: 5 3/16 × 21 13/16" (13.2 × 55.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (The Black Pagoda III) from The Black Pagoda

1966 · One from a series of ten lithographs

composition (irreg.): 28 7/16 × 20 5/8" (72.2 × 52.4 cm); sheet: 30 5/16 × 22 1/8" (77 × 56.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (Voyages IV) from Voyages

1966 · One from a series of six lithographs

composition (irreg.): 10 13/16 × 6 3/4" (27.5 × 17.2 cm); sheet: 11 1/4 × 7 3/8" (28.6 × 18.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (The Black Pagoda VIII) from The Black Pagoda

1966 · One from a series of ten lithographs

composition (irreg.): 28 7/8 × 20 9/16" (73.3 × 52.2 cm); sheet: 30 1/4 × 22 3/8" (76.8 × 56.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

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Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Related artists

Adjacent in the graph

Record

Movements and affiliations

Lyrical Abstraction

Movement

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Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition Young American Printmakers

New York · 1953

Group Exhibition Some American Prints, 1949�50, from the Museum Collection

New York · 1951

Group Exhibition New Talent Exhibition in the Penthouse: Bunce, Johnston, and Mundt

New York · 1950