January 1922: Miss Helen S. Johnston’s Breton Sketches, in Her Studio, 79 West Regent Street, Glasgow

An article on page ten of The Glasgow Herald, on Tuesday the 31st of January, 1922, reads:

 

“MISS JOHNSTON’S BRETON

SKETCHES

 

The collection of Breton sketches which Miss Helen S. Johnston is showing in her studio, 79

West Regent Street, Glasgow, marks a somewhat new and interesting phase of her art. Miss

Johnston, who is one of the most accomplished of the local circle of women artists, has a genial

outlook on nature; she delights in sunshine and figures set in happy landscapes. These sketches,

fluently accomplished in oil, are vividly impressionist, and sparkle with light and colour. She is

notably successful in the ‘Return of the Sardine Fleet,’ boats and fishers set against the radiant blue

of sea and sky, in the ‘Market Place,’ where the sense of animation is admirably conveyed, and in a

‘Grey Day at Sea,’ where the red-sailed boat makes an effective and delightfully warm note. There is

much charm in the simply composed ‘High Tide,’ a row of houses set by the water side. Miss Johnston

employs an opulent palette, and her colour schemes harmonise finely. She is also a keen observer of

character, and in this stimulating little show Breton coast and landscape and Breton life find vivid

expression.”

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, January 2021.