VERGENNES — Bixby Memorial Library in Vergennes will hold a silent auction of framed prints and watercolors by Addison artist Tom Johnson starting Oct. 6 and running through Oct. 20.
Born Feb. 22, 1922, in Camden, N.Y., Johnson graduated from Middlebury College in 1948. He studied watercolor painting there with Arthur K.D. Healy. He later studied with Xavier Gonzalez on Cape Cod and Dong Kingman at Columbia University and apprenticed in silkscreen printing to Arthur Young at Columbia.
Johnson describes himself as a “Vermontophile” since his undergraduate days. He has lived in Addison since the 1970s in a restored farmhouse with views of Snake Mountain to the east and the Adirondacks to the west. It is this countryside that has inspired his watercolors and prints, which for many years were featured at the Frog Hollow State Craft Center as well as at numerous galleries throughout the state.
Of the 11 prints and watercolors donated by Johnson for the auction, most depict the Vermont countryside; however, early watercolors from the 1950s feature scenes from nearby Ticonderoga, N.Y. All artwork is framed.
The auction will take place in the Otter Creek Room. After initial bidding, auction participants may call in to check the highest bid on any artwork, and continue to bid by phone. All proceeds will benefit Bixby Library. For more information about the auction call Bixby Library at 877-2211.