Celebrating the Familiar: The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr.

New York: Alfred van der Marck Editions, 1987. First edition. First printing [stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. Signed by author. Cover has slight wear and soiling.. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. v, [3], 136 p. Complete Catalog of sculptures. Includes a "Conversation" with Johnson. Preface by Paula Stoeke. Paula Stoeke, director and curator of the Scupture Foundation, which owns most of the artist s work. From Wikipedia: "John Seward Johnson II (born 1930) also known as J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and Seward Johnson is an American artist known for his trompe l'oeil painted bronze statues. He is a grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I (co-founder of Johnson & Johnson) and Colonel Thomas Melville Dill of Bermuda. He is best known for his life-size bronze statues, which actually are castings of living people of all ages depicting them engaged in day-to-day activities. A large staff of technicians perform the fabrication. Johnson was born in New Jersey. His father was John Seward Johnson I, and his mother was Ruth Dill, the sister of actress Diana Dill, therefore making him a first cousin of actor Michael Douglas. Johnson grew up with five siblings: Mary Lea Johnson Richards, Elaine Johnson, Diana Melville Johnson, Jennifer Underwood Johnson, and James Loring "Jimmy" Johnson. His parents divorced around 1937, and his father remarried two years later, producing his only brother Jimmy Johnson, making him an uncle to film director Jamie Johnson. Johnson attended Forman School for dyslexics and University of Maine, where he majored in poultry husbandry, but did not graduate. Johnson also served four years in the Navy during the Korean War. Johnson's works were selected by the United States Information Agency to represent the freedoms of the United States in a public and private partnership enterprise representation sponsored by General Motors and many other U.S. corporations at the World EXPO celebration in Seville, Spain during 1992.