In the mid-1970s, artist and Georgia State University professor Medford Johnston, along with his wife and collaborator Loraine, began their journey into art collection by acquiring works from artists who were at the forefront of contemporary art during the late 1960s and 1970s. Initially gathering a diverse range of paintings and objects, they soon concentrated their efforts on drawings, particularly those produced by artists at the leading edge of abstraction in the mid-1960s, a period marked by significant innovation and experimentation.
Today, the Johnstons possess one of the most distinguished collections of postwar American drawings and related objects, now exceeding eighty-five works, which they have bequeathed to The High Museum in Atlanta. The exhibition, titled Thinking Eye, Seeing Mind: The Medford and Loraine Johnston Collection, showcases works by notable artists such as Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Elizabeth Murray, Martin Puryear, and Stanley Whitney, among others. This exhibition traces the evolution of American abstraction from 1960 to 1990, offering visitors insight into the various paths taken by artists during this period, as well as the motivations and contexts behind their stylistic explorations. It highlights the immense patience, focus, discipline, and a discerning eye required to establish an art collection of such significance.
