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OUT OF THE EGG (1943)
(Uit het ei)
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What evoloved was his finesse of rendering - an increasing awareness of nature, light, atmosphere, and composition. Especially in the notebooks we see how certain developments began with many sketches and drawings, and only reached their final expression in painting after years, indeed, decades of study.
But it is particularly Johra’s themes and subject matter which manifest the artist’s greatest striving, movement and discovery. His view onto the world shifted gradually from imagination to spirit to nature. Or, to give them their proper names, from Surrealism to Hermeticism to Pantheism. It is, as if, he began his explorations in the unconscious, moved on to higher consciousness, and then settled finally onto a view of nature enriched by all that had come before.
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And so, in examining his works, it is the artist’s own quest that shall guide us. He described his life as a Symphonie Fantastique, and the metaphor is also apt for describing the development in his works. As in music, an opening phrase must first be announced before it may be developed over time in successive variations. For Johfra, each new subject in his painting became an opportunity for further exploration. An ‘opening work’ announced a new theme of interest which was then picked up and expanded in succeeding canvases. It is particularly the evolution of Johfra’s outlook, as announced in these ‘opening works’ that will describe his life journey here as a quest for ever-expanding vision.
L. Caruana
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YOUTH AND ACADEMY TRAINING
1919 - 1945
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When examing the works from Johfra’s youth and academy days, it must be kept in mind that the greater part was destroyed by a falling bomb one fateful day during World War II. The few black and white photos that we have do not convey the rich colours revealed by the few surviving works.
But, above all this, in the early works we find the initial annunciation of certain themes which would then resound throughout his life. The first of these is his unique fascination with the substance of the imagination, and its many expressions in form, growth, and movement.
In Out of the Egg (1943) we encounter a dense mesh of organic, coralline, and aquatic growths, some like sea anemones, others more transparent and glowing. At the top of the composition is Johfra himself in an egg that is cracked open and pierced through by a nail.
Like the interior landscapes of Tanguy or the early Dali, these organic forms take root in the artist’s own mind, giving shape and figure to the substance of his imagination. It is, as if, the canvas has become a mirror that momentarily holds still the ever-transforming mindstuff behind his open eyes.
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