Mom's Favorite

It was my mother’s favorite painting.

Every time she visited me on the job as director of marketing at the Cincinnati Art Museum, she would ask to stop by and pay a visit to the van Gogh. I gladly showed her the way through the Great Hall up the grand staircase to the European galleries, where a crowd usually stood by the painting.

As I was reading the Wall Street Journal last Thursday, there it was, a picture above the fold of the beloved painting from the CAM’s collection, “Undergrowth with Two Figures” (1890) by Vincent van Gogh. The prized painting entered the storied Cincinnati collection in 1967, a bequest of Mary E. Johnston in the year of her passing along with 30 other paintings by famous names: Picasso, Matisse, among others.  

Per the article, “Undergrowth with Two Figures” is one of the star attractions in the new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts titled “Van Gogh in America” on view through Jan. 22, 2023. The painting is in the Queen City’s collection thanks to Miss Mary Johnston (1890-1967), the niece by marriage of William Cooper Procter, who served as president of The Procter & Gamble Company. According to a Cincinnati Enquirer report, Miss Johnston (as she was known) was treated like a daughter by the Procters, as they had no children of their own. They taught her the value of giving. As their heir, she ensured their fortune benefitted the Episcopal Church and other causes such as Children’s Hospital, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Society of the Transfiguration.

Mary Johnson

Miss Johnston was active in the Episcopal Church at every level, including campaigning for construction of the National Cathedral in Washington. For Christ Church in Glendale, she underwrote an addition with offices, classrooms and a chapel designed by local architect Woodie Garber (demolished). Besides the church, Miss Johnston’s interests included nursing, education, agriculture and art. She was a missionary in the Philippines, served as a battlefield nurse in World War II, studied under the innovative educator Maria Montessori in Rome, and operated a farm.

Among her greatest gifts was Procter Hall at the UC College of Nursing. A talented artist, Miss Johnston gave a collection of 30+ paintings valued at $2 million to the Cincinnati Art Museum in 1967, a value now that has increased by many zeros. The significant gift to the CAM was reported nationally at the time with a feature in The New York Times.

Thanks to Miss Mary E. Johnston for her largess to the Cincinnati Art Museum and thanks to Cincinnati Art Museum for giving me these fond memories with Ms. Pat Reau.

I think it’s time for a road trip up I-75 to see the van Gogh exhibition at the DIA.

– Jackie Reau