Born in Seattle in 1928, George Johanson attended the former Portland Art Museum School, now Pacific Northwest College of Art, in the late 1940s, where he studied with Oregon modernists Louis Bunce, William Givler, Jack McLarty and Michele Russo. Responding to the work of these artists as well as to the New York School and European avant garde, Johanson forged a mature style and range of imagery characterized by its graphic immediacy, intense coloration and exuberant figuration.

After receiving a Bachelors degree in 1950 he went on to teach painting, life drawing and printmaking at PNCA for 25 years, retiring in 1980. Johanson will speak about his exhibition, Seven Decades of Painting, and his 60 year connection to PNCA at the college’s 2010 Homecoming Lecture.

The Homecoming Lecture is one of four Cornerstone Lectures, including Convocation, the Edelman Lecture and Commencement, and is part of the PNCA Alumni Weekend.