Uncovered - Illustrating the Sixties and Seventies

1961, casein tempera on board, 39cm x 64cm

One of Johnson’s most sensuous and stylish compositions, and the earliest surviving Johnson's work using casein tempera paint which we have come across. Casein tempera paint was used by illustrators before the invention and availability of acrylic paint. This painting is an exceptional and very rare example of Johnson's early work. 

The painting was used for the cover of "A Crowd of Voices" the first full length novel by Richard Lortz, a highly regarded writer of short stories, novels, plays, and TV shows. His 1972 Broadway play 'Voices' was made into a film starring David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt and Lynn Farleigh the following year. 

"A Crowd of Voices" was published by Four Square Books in the year it was acquired by Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles and re-branded as the National English Library (NEL), now a cult imprint of  1960s and 70s paperback pulp fiction.  

c.1962/3, casein tempera on board, 33cm x 43cm

This illustration for a magazine story in Woman’s Realm, is an early surviving example of Johnson's work using casein tempera paint. Casein tempera paint was used by illustrators before the invention and availability of acrylic paint. This painting is an exceptional and rare example of Johnson's early work. 

Johnson used the designer, model and actress Suzy Kendall to model the girl in the striped dress.  Kendall’s films included such Sixties classics as Thunderball, To Sir With Love, Up the Junction and Fear is the Key.  She was briefly married to Dudley Moore, remaining lifelong friends after the marriage ended.

c.1961, casein tempera on board, 38cm x 51cm

A rare, early casein illustration for Woman’s Own – typical of the popular women’s romantic fiction of that time.

The male model used for this painting was Michael Johnsons friend and colleague, the hugely successful  illustrator Renato Fratini. 

1964 – 65, acrylic on board, 44cm x 45cm

Cover illustration for Highland Masquerade by Mary Elgin for Corgi Books. A romantic novel set the Scottish Highlands. Mary Elgin (1917-1965) wrote only three books that are known but is considered the closest thing to Mary Stewart. Her books are contemporary gothics with humour and charm.

c.1966, acrylic on board, 40cm x 59cm

Concept illustration for Willie Landels, Art Director and then Editor at Queen (now Harpers Bazaar) magazine. Johnson’s signature abstract lines add dynamism and a sense of movement to the couple.  This sculptural, animated quality was liked by Landels who had Nevertheless, he advised “more detail – more precision” if Johnson wanted to win more fashion illustration work.  Landels and Johnson developed a productive professional partnership

c. 1966, acrylic on board, 50cm x 26cm

Concept illustration. Johnson’s signature abstract lines from this series feature through the model’s body and the background circle also. 

c.1966, acrylic on board, 54cm x 61cm

Concept illustration. The double portrait shows Johnson’s technique to great effect with one of the faces a ghostly reflection of the other. His signature abstract lines give relief to the central portraits while the flower perfectly references late ‘60s vogue. The reverse of this illustration has a second image of twin nudes.

c. 1964-5, acrylic painting on canvas.

An early commission for short-lived London agency Dyad Marketing. Johnson interpreted the brief ‘Girl with a Gun’ using photographs in a sequence of poses arranged like a moving image. Influenced by American illustrators who were showing their work in art galleries, Johnson created this at a scale suitable for a gallery setting.

The original painting is approximately 100 cm tall X 200 cm wide. The artwork is on stretched canvas, framed in a white wooden box frame.

c.1969, acrylic on board    

Alongside painting, Johnson’s other passion is racing.  He had a driver’s contract with both Esso and Dunlop and drove Lotus cars competitively.  A huge admirer of John Surtees - still the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels - Johnson depicts Surtees in the cockpit of Jim Hall’s 1969 Chaparral 2H.  Originally a Lola car designed by Eric Broadley but later used by Chaparral, it has the same chassis as the Ford GT40 noted for its Le Mans 24 Hours wins. Surtees raced this car during the 1969 Can-Am season.  Jim Hall (former race driver and part-owner of Chaparral) stands alongside the car beside a team mechanic.

The original painting is approximately 50 cm wide x 50 cm tall.The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Fratini produced a number of options for for Mickey Spillane’s Tiger Man novel; this is an option that didn’t make the final cut. Fratini used cool colours, perhaps to offset with the book’s graphics, whereas the final version was backed by red.   A different interpretation of the brief, perhaps influenced by the book’s title.

Gallery Print Edition

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper Size 42cm x 29.7cm

Created from an original artwork; c.1967, gouache on board

1964, acrylic on board

Fontana Books reprinted Alistair MacLean’s 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous in 1964.  The macho hero raises a gun, he is dressed in white on a white background, so the red-clad woman he is protecting draws the eye. 

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1967, acrylic on board,  40 cm wide x 34 cm tall

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The artwork is sold with an original Fear is the Key paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size approximately 59.5 cm tall X 42 cm wide 

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; c.1960s, acrylic on board

Cover illustration for a later edition of the novel "Murder In Moscow" first published in 1951 by Collins. Andrew Garve is one of the pen names of Paul Winterton, accomplished journalist and founder member of the Crime Writers Association. This was Winterton's own favourite of his novels. 

The illustration reduces the story to its essence - as do all Robertson's illustrations in this style. Character and dramatic conflict were often represented in the simple, careful juxtaposition of highly detailed objects on a plain background. He offered tempting clues to the narrative, rather than drawing on an explicit moment or theme.

The original painting is approximately 36 cm wide x 58 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work; acrylic on board, c.1965

Written by William Sansom in 1961, the influential 1963 film made of the book was a style-setter.  It featured Vidal Sassoon’s innovative re-styling of Nancy Kwan’s famous long hair; which launched the geometric version of Mary Quant’s bob, along with fashion design by Quant herself.  Fratini’s illustration acknowledges the fashion moment but also portrays the narrative of a woman looking for love, naturalistically and with a bitter-sweet tone.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting, acrylic on board, c.1962

Glendon Swarthout’s self-confessed ‘big book’ about a little town in Michigan was published in 1962. Though a more melodramatic image was eventually used for the cover, this version by Fratini uses introspective figures and symbols of authority set against a burning yellow background to imply violent secrets lurking below the town’s composed surface. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. 

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting; gouache on board, c.1965, 

Cover illustration for the novel by critically acclaimed author Erskine Caldwell.  Briefly married to the eminent photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, Caldwell did not shy away from exposing the poverty, racism and other social ills endemic in the South of the US during the 20^th century. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. 

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting; acrylic on board, 1965

Julius Horwitz’s novel, The Inhabitants, was written in 1960 and published by Four Square Books in 1965.  Fratini used a deep red to depict the struggle of a single mother fighting her way out of New York’s slums.  He sets the protagonist in a powerful pose against a group of figures left behind. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall.

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Created from an original artwork; 1967, acrylic on board

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42cm X 29.7cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

1966, original artwork

Fratini's cover for Mickey Spillane's 'The Flier' published by Corgi Books in 1967 was later used for the cover of 'The Sour Lemon Score'.

Donald E. Westlake wrote 'The Sour Lemon Score', one of his ‘Parker’ series under the pseudonym of Richard Stark in 1969. Fratini's illustration was used on a Danish publication of the story in a raunchier style than those produced for English versions.

The painting is classic Fratini, provocative poses in a setting reduced to stylistic bare-bones.

The original painting art board is approximately 30 cm wide x 38 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Prints

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42 cm X 29.7 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; 1964, acrylic on board

Fontana Books reprinted Alistair MacLean’s 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous in 1964.  The macho hero raises a gun, he is dressed in white on a white background, so the red-clad woman he is protecting draws the eye. 

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

The cover for this Corgi Crime 1967 publication of Mickey Spillane’s novel, features quintessential Fratini.  A couple, a struggle, a gun; cheekily posed and skilfully painted with emphasis.  The groovy, colour-soaked fashion nods to the next decade.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42 cm X 29.7 cm  

Created from an original artwork; 1967, acrylic on board