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November 2006

Michael Johnson has been photographing rural America for more than thirty-five years. He is a traditional large format photographer, producing silver/gelatin prints from view camera negatives. His large black and white photographs have been exhibited from New York to Tokyo, where they hang in major museums, corporations, hospitals and private collections.

A self-taught photographer, Johnson traces his inspiration to the European master painters of the 17th century. However, his vision has been shaped by the land, itself, especially by the landscape of the driftless area of Northwestern Illinois.

Johnson's love for the land extends to other areas of his life as well. He and his wife, Patricia have planted thousands of trees on their family tree farm near Mount Carroll, Illinois, where they operate a small sawmill and sustainable hardwood lumber business. They were named Illinois Outstanding Tree Farmers in 2003 by the American Tree Farm System.

Museum Collections

  • The Art Institute of Chicago
  • National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Inst.
  • The Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ
  • The Santa Barbara Museum of Art
  • The Cincinnati Art Museum
  • The California Museum of Photography, Riverside
  • The Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
  • The Krannert Museum, Champaign, Illinois
  • The Dennos Museum, Traverse City, Michigan
  • The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina
  • The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE
  • San Jose Museum of Art
    		•   

    Health Care Facilities Collections

  • Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
  • The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
  • Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA
  • University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, IA
  • New England Medical Center, Boston, MA
  • Las Vegas Federal Medical Center, Nellis Air Force Base
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
  • St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, TX
  • Covenant Medical Center, Waterloo, IA
  • Mercy Hospital, Iowa City, IA
    		•
    Corporate & Private Collections
  • Sprint
  • International Business Machines Corporation
  • Mobil Oil Corporation, Houston
  • McDonald's Corporation
  • The Hyatt Corporation, Chicago
  • Mastercard
  • Ratheon Corporation
  • The CocaCola Company
  • Citycorp, Kansas City
  • The Marriott Corporation
  • Lowe Lintas and Partners, Chicago
  • Commercial Bank, Chicago
  • HNTB Corporation, Kansas City
  • Texaco USA, Houston
  • The Morgan Trust Bank
  • B.D.O. Seidman, Chicago
  • Masonite Corporation, Chicago
  • Chubb & Son Inc.
  • Atlantic Mutual Company, Madison, NJ
  • Arthur Andersen and Company
  • Pacific Telesis, San Francisco
  • Texas Instruments
  • McKinsey and Company, Chicago
  • Ray-O-Vac Corporation, Madison, WI
  • Emerson Electric Corporation, St. Louis
  • The Farm Credit Administration, St. Louis
  • Bear, Stearns & Co., NYC
  • Iowa Department of Natural Resources
  • Fox Broadcasting Network
    		•   
  • Bank of America, Phoenix
  • Cincinnati Bell Systems
  • Beatrice Foods, Chicago, IL
  • The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  • The Arizona Bank
  • The Miller Brewing Company
  • Pacific Bell Telephone
  • Ingersoll-Rand, Dallas
  • The Chicago Botanic Gardens
  • Dallas Semiconductor Corporation
  • Browning-Ferris Industries, Houston
  • Canadian Imperial Bank, Los Angeles
  • The Continental Bank of Illinois
  • First City Bank, Houston
  • Pru-Care Incorporated, Atlanta
  • Western Bank, Houston
  • Comp Care Corporation, Anaheim, CA
  • University of Illinois at Champaign
  • First City Bank, Arlington, Texas
  • Pioneer Hi-Bred, Johnstown, IA
  • Matag Corporation, Newton, IA
  • The Ponderosa Corporation, Cincinnati
  • Eastern Illinois University
  • First Bank Systems, Minneapolis
  • Prairie State College, Chicago
  • Reva & David Logan Foundation
  • The Ruttenberg Arts Foundation
  • The State of Illinois Center, Chicago
    		•
    Selected Exhibitions

    2005:
  • Olson Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, IA
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
  • Schmidt Art Center, Belleview, IL
    • 2004:
  • Olson Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, IA
  • Freeport Art Center, Freeport, IL
  • Gallery 72, Omaha, NE
    • 2003:
  • Brunnier Art Museum, Ames IA "The Iowa Collection"
  • The Gibbs Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
    • 2002:
  • Olson-Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, IA
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
  • The Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL
    • 2001:
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
  • Olson Larsen Galleries, West Des Moines, IA
  • Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, MI
    • 1999:
  • Dolphin Gallery, Kansas City, MO
  • Grinnell College, "Restructuring the Prairie"
  • Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
  • Olson Larsen Galleries, West DesMoines
    • 1998:
  • Olson Larsen Gallery, West Des Moines, IA
  • Nina Liu & Friends, " Charleston, SC
  • Gallery 72, Omaha, NE
  • Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, IA
    • 1996:
  • The Witkin Gallery, New York City
  • Photo Metro, "Water" San Francisco, CA
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
    • 1995:
  • Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, Texas
  • Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, MI
    • 1994: 
  • Vision Gallery, San Francisco, CA
  • Gibbs Museum of Art, Charleston, SC
  • Olson Larsen Gallery, West Des Moines, IA
  • Scheinbaum & Russek, Santa Fe, NM
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
    • 1993:
  • The Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
  • Vision Gallery, "Big Pictures," San Francisco, CA
  • Scheinbaum & Russek, "The Tree," Santa Fe, NM
    • 1992:
  • Grant Gallery, Denver, CO
    • 1991:
  • Kauffman Galleries, Houston, TX
  • The Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, TX
  • Dennos Museum, Traverse City, MI
  • Nina Liu & Friends, Charleston, SC
  • Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, ID
  • Olson Larsen Gallery, West Des Moines, IA
    		•   1990:
  • Photo Gallery International, Tokyo, Japan
  • Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ
  • Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, MI
    • 1989:
  • Olson Larsen Gallery, West Des Moines, IA
  • The Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL
    • 1988:
  • The Kauffman Galleries, Houston, TX
  • The Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C.
  • The Witkin Gallery, New York City
  • Scheinbaum & Russek, Santa Fe, NM
  • Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • Susan Spiritus Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA
  • The Art Institute of Chicago, "Recent Acquisitions"
    • 1987:
  • The Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, TX
  • Peter M. David Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY, "Photography And the West"
  • The University Club of Chicago
    • 1985:
  • The Kauffman Galleries, Houston, TX
  • The State of Illinois Center, Chicago, IL
  • The Peter M. David Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
  • The Witkin Gallery, "A Tribute to Lee Witkin,"
  • "Contemporary Art," One Penn Plaza, NYC
  • "Midwest American Photographers" Rockford College, Rockford, IL
    • 1984:
  • Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
  • The Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
  • Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
    • 1983:
  • The Art Institute of Chicago, "Open Lands"
  • The Halsted Gallery, Birmingham, MI
  • The Barbara Balkin Gallery, Chicago, IL
    • 1982:
  • The Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
  • Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
    • 1981:
  • The Gilbert Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • Photography Collectors Inc., Milwaukee, WI
  • The Merrill Chase Galleries, Chicago, IL
  • The University Club of Chicago
    • 1980:
  • The Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C.
  • The Crocker Art Museum, "Large Spaces in Small Places," Sacramento, CA
  • The Friends of Photography, Carmel, CA
  • The Gilbert Gallery, Chicago, IL
    • 1979:
  • The Chicago Botanic Gardens
  • The Art Academy of Cincinnati
  • The Gilbert Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • St. John's College, Annapolis, MD
    		•