Celebrating the twenty-six letters of the alphabet found in various American schools form the basis for this series of digitally enhanced monoprints of varying sizes. The intent for these works is to foster creative connections for current students grades K-12 as well as conjure memories of their classrooms, gyms, and playground environments for adults. The nod towards poloraids as a visual aesthetic aims to create a veil of realism to enhance a sense of timelessness of schools past, present, or imagined.
Originally published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, NY titled “Alphabet School.”
“Not only does Johnson once again take something simple and make it extraordinary, but he will inspire readers to do the same.”(Kirkus, *STARRED REVIEW June 15, 2015)
These twenty-six paintings were published in 1995 by Viking Books, New York, NY, titled “Alphabet City.” Each work was created between the years 1993-1995 using pastels, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on hot press watercolor paper. Sizes range from 21 x 26 inches to 22 x 33 inches.
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Since childhood, I have been drawn to the particular energy one senses in the people, sounds, and structures, old and new, that constitute a city.
The idea for “Alphabet City” came to me while I was walking along city streets in NYC. I noticed an ornamental keystone that looked like the letter S. Then suddenly, I saw the letter A in a construction sawhorse and the letter Z in fire-escapes. At that moment, it became clear that in urban compositions I could discover the elements that form the letters of the alphabet.
Building “Alphabet City” required self-imposed guidelines. All letters had to be capital letters, found in their natural positions, out-of-doors or in public spaces such as the subway, readily accessible to anyone who looks carefully at our urban world at various time so day, and during the cycle of the seasons. There are no right or wrong solutions to finding letters in a city, only pleasurable ones. Some letters are obvious, while others, more subtle, come to light through a closer look.
I hope that my paintings will inspire children and adults to look at their surroundings in a fresh and playful way. In doing so they will discover for themselves juxtaposition of scale, harmonies of shadows, rhythms, colorful patterns in surface textures, and joy in the most somber aspects of a city, by transcending the mundane and unearthing its hidden beauty.
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“The 26 paintings by Stephen T. Johnson in Alphabet City must be the most beautiful set of images in a children’s book since Chris Van Allsburg’s Polar Express appeared a decade ago. From the sawhorse that forms an “A” to the fire escape that makes a “Z,” every one of these richly colored full pages is a pleasure to behold.” — Paul Goldberger, The New York Times Book Review
“Celebrating the lines, curves and shapes of the letters, Johnson elevates the alphabet into art… A visual tour de force, Johnson’s ingenious alphabet book transcends the genre by demanding close inspection of not just letters, but the world.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The pictorial equivalents of “found poetry,” the twenty-six-studies command attention and encourage readers to conduct similar explorations of their own. All are imaginative, stimulating, and striking. A book to savor again and again.” — Horn Book Magazine, starred review
“I went into a bookstore, and I found a book [Alphabet City] that I just fell in love with. Very very cleverly done.” — Charles Gibson, Good Morning America, ABC Television
“A thoroughly original look at the alphabet, exactly the way it appears to children in an urban landscape. This simple yet astonishing book invites parents and children to find the hidden letters in everyday surroundings.” — Parents Magazine, A Parents Pick of the Year
“The Library of Congress cataloged Alphabet City as “juvenile literature,” which will probably do nothing to keep grow-ups from filching their kids’ copies of the book. Artist Stephen T. Johnson “built” his city by finding capital letters in lampposts, fire escapes, the Brooklyn Bridge, even negative space and rendering them stunningly with pastels, watercolors, gouache, and charcoal.” — Linda Hall, New York Magazine
“This is not only a beautiful book, but one that transforms the way we view the world.” — Hungry Mind Review, A 1996 Children’s Book of Distinction Award
A CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE YEAR
A GOLD MEDAL FROM THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 ½ x 26 ½ inches, 1995.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 29 3/8 inches, 1995. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 26 ¾ inches, 1995. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 24 7/8 inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 26 1/8 inches, 1994. (Collection Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 24 x 27 inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 24 x 27 inches, 1994. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 26 inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 27 ½ inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 28 ¾ inches, 1994. (Private Collection Paris, France)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 27 inches, 1955. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 ½ x 33 ¼ inches, 1993. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 30 ½ inches, 1993. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 5/8 x 34 ½ inches, 1994. (Collection the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 24 × 26 inches, 1994. (Collection of Paul Simon and Edie Brickell, New York, NY)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 23 x 25 ¾ inches, 1994. (Collection Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 × 29 inches, 1993.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22× 29 inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 26 ½ inches, 1994. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 ½ x 32 ¼ inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 × 28 inches, 1994. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 × 26 inches, 1994. (Private Collection, Brooklyn, NY)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 3/16 x 34 inches, 1994.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 27 ¾ inches, 1995.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 26 ¼ inches, 1995.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 ½ x 25 ¼, 1994.
City by Numbers reflects my continuing attraction to cities for their wealth of visual possibilities. In these urban landscapes are wonderful images waiting to be transformed into paintings.
The idea for a number book and series evolved naturally while I was looking for letter shapes for my book Alphabet City. Inevitably I came upon urban subjects that resembled not only letters but umbers as well. Following the blueprint I created for Alphabet City, I retained my various themes and self-imposed guidelines. Each image must be found in its natural position, out-of-doors or in a public space, readily accessible to anyone who looks carefully at our urban world at various times of day and during the cycle of the seasons.
One of the more interesting question that arose in creating a series of sequential images of numbers was deciding where to stop or begin. A traditional number series might run from one or perhaps zero through ten or twelve, but given my desire to paint as many interesting pictures as possible, I found this amount limiting. Twenty was much closer to what I was looking for, but not quite right. Then it dawned on me. Why not go to twenty-one? I found this a particularly significant number as we were entering the new millennium and the twenty-first century.
Cities are one of our greatest human assets, for they embody and embrace diversity, connecting us with our past and linking us to our future. As the twenty-first century unfolds, it may be an appropriate time to reflect on the past century with its prodigious urban achievements and ask ourselves how we can preserve buildings, neighborhoods, and areas that have unique character and charm. It is also a time to marvel at our innovations as we move into this wonderous new era.
I hope that my paintings like with Alphabet City, will inspire children and adults to look at their surroundings in a fresh and playful way. In doing so they will discover for themselves juxtapositions of scale, harmonies of shadows, rhythms, colorful patterns in surface textures and joy in the most somber aspects of a city, be transforming the mundane and unearthing its hidden beauty.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 17 x 22 3/8 inches, 1998.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 × 26 inches, 1998. (Private Collection, Paris, France)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 ¾ x 27 ¾ inches, 1997. (Private Collection)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 36 ½ inches, 1997. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 26 ½ inches, 1997.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 × 26 inches, 1997.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 23 × 37 inches, 1997. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 ½ x 27 ¾ inches, 1996.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 x 27 ¼ inches, 1998.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 17 5/8 x 36 ½ inches, 1998. (Private Collection Kansas City, MO)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 21 7/8 x 28 3/4 inches, 1998.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 23 x 29 inches, 1994. (Private Collection, Paris, France)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 ¼ x 34 1/8 inches, 1997. (Collection the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 24 × 26 inches, 1997. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 23 x 25 inches, 1997. (Private Collection, Paris, France)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 x 34 ¼ inches, 1997. (Collection Carnegie Mellon University, Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh, PA)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 ¼ x 34 inches, 1997. (Private Collection, Kansas City, MO)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 × 28 inches, 1997. (Private Collection, New Brunswick, NJ)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 22 x 29 inches, 1997. (Collection Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS.)
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 20 3/8 x 35 inches, 1998.
This is the facade of the New Victory Theater before its renovation. It is located in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republic Theatre, it was designed by Albert Westover and developed by Oscar Hammerstein.
Pastel, watercolor, gouache and charcoal on paper, 18 ¾ x 25 ¾ inches, 1998. (Private Collection )
View from the promenade in Brooklyn Heights where I lived at the time for over eleven years. I moved the World Trade Center and the Woolworth Building slightly to form a more interesting composition but the lights in the central building and the reflected light of the building in the distance, were observed in their natural state. A marvelous bit of serendipity!
Oil on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2024 (Private Collection)
Oil on paper mounted to panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2024 (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 8.5 × 11.5 inches, 2024 (Private Collection)
Oil and studio detritus on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2023
Oil and studio detritus on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2023
Oil and studio detritus on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2023
oil on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2023
Oil on panel, 4 × 5 inches, 2023
Oil on panel, 5 × 7 inches, 2015 (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 7x 9 inches, 2015 (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 5 × 7 inches, 2015
Oil on panel, 5 × 7 inches, 2015
Oil on panel, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2015 (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 12 x 16, 2016 (Private Collection)
Being a goof plain air painting in the Flint Hills with artist Lisa Grossman, 2015.
Pastel on paper, 18 x 22 inches, 1990
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 5 x 7 inches, 2013. (Private Collection)
Pastel and charcoal on paper, 13 x 17 inches, 1998
Pastel on paper, 22 x 28 inches, 2016. (Private Collection)
Pastel on paper, 22 x 28 inches, 2017
Pastel on paper, 13 x 19 inches, 1988, (Private Collection)
Pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches, 2001
Pastel on paper, 40 x 60 inches, 1989. (Private Collection)
Pastel on paper, 14 x 23 inches, 2009. (Private Collection)
Male Nude
Watercolor on paper, 11 x 14, 1987
Pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches, 1999
Stephen in 1989 in front of his dancer series at the 3 Generation of Johnsons exhibit at Locust Gallery, Lawrence, Kansas and in 2016 in front of Olympia II at the Lawrence Art Center's annual Auction, Lawrence, Kansas.
Hoop Player No.7
Pastel on paper, 19 x 24 inches, 1997
Hoop Players Study
Pastel and Charcoal, 18 x 24 inches, 1997 (Private Collection)
Frank Mason III
Pastel on paper, 22 x 28 inches, 2018
Hoop Players No.18
Pastel on paper, 19 x 22 inches, 1997
Hoop Player No.24
Pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches, 1997
Dancer
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 17 x 23.5 inches, 2002 (Private Collection)
Pete Rose Portrait
Cover art for The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, oil on canvas, 1990
Ned Yost
Pastel on paper, 17 x 25 inches, 2018
Oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches, 2005. (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 4 x 13 inches, 2009. (Private Collection)
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, 1991. (Private Collection, New York, NY)
Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches, 1990. (Private Collection, Hamburg, Germany)
Study for a Time Magazine Cover, oil on canvas, 10 x 10 inches, May 1988
Oil on canvas, 11 x 19 inches, 1989
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, 1991
Oil on panel, 5 x 13.75 inches, 2005. (Private Collection)
Oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches, 2005
Oil on panel, 11 x 19 inches, 2005. (Private Collection, Kansas City, MO)
Oil on panel, 8 x 11 inches, 2005. (Private Collection, Brooklyn, NY)
Oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches, 2005
Taking a break from painting from the model at Louis Copt's Studio in 2005.
Pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches, commissioned by Harcourt Inc. for the cover art for Joseph Bruchac's novel Sacajawea. (Private Collection)
Pastel on paper, 18 x 24 inches, commissioned by Harcourt Inc. for the cover art for Joseph Bruchac's novel Pochahotas. (Private Collection)
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 19 x 25 inches, commissioned by Stephen Spielberg and the Starbright Foundation to support seriously ill children and was part of the illustrated book Once Upon a Fairy Tale, published in 2001 by Viking Books for Young Readers.
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches, CD cover art work commissioned by CBS Records, NYC.
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 12 x 29 inches, cover artwork for a biomedical adventure by Russ Hodge, published by The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany in 2013.
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 15.5 x 16 inches, Manpower Inc., Milwaukee, WI, 1999. Le Corbusier
Pastel and watercolor on paper, 11 x 16 inches, 1999. Private Commission, Wichita, KS
Pastel on paper, 10 x 12 inches, 2016. Commissioned by Bon Bon Bistro, Lawrence, KS
Pastel on paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2016. Private Commission, Kansas City, MO
Pastel on paper, 11 x 14 inches, 2016. Private Commission, Los Angeles, CA
Pastel on paper, 11 x 14 inches, 2016. Private Commission, Kansas City, MO
Graphite, 11 x 14 inches, 1991
Graphite, 11 x 17 inches, 1988
Graphite, 11 x 14 inches, 1993
Black and white pastel, 11 x 14 inches, 1998 (Private Collection)
Charcoal, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017 (Private Collection)
Charcoal, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017 (Private Collection)
Charcoal, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017 (Private Collection)
Graphite, 5 x 7 inches, 2014
Charcoal and ink, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2015
Graphite with watercolor, 5 x 7 inches, 2014
Ink, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017
Ink, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017
Ink, 8.5 x 11 inches, 2017
Pastel on Ingres paper, 19 × 25 inches, 1986
Pastel on paper, 15 × 21 inches, 1986
Charcoal on Ingres paper, 19 × 25 inches, 1986
Oil on paper, 30 × 40 inches, 1986
Oil and spray paint on paper, 30 × 40 inches, 1987
Pen & Ink, graphic, and watercolor on paper, 18 × 24, 1986
Pen & Ink, graphic, and watercolor on paper, 18 × 24, 1986
Watercolor on cold press paper, 11 ½ x 8 ½ inches, 1984
Pastel, charcoal and watercolor on paper, 19 × 28. 1986
Magazine collage, 17 × 20 inches, 1985
Charcoal on Ingres paper, 19 × 25 inches, 1984
