American designer and film director
Jed Johnson
|
---|
|
Born
| (
1948-12-30
)
December 30, 1948
|
---|
Died
| July 17, 1996
(1996-07-17)
(aged 47)
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| Film director
,
designer
|
---|
Partner(s)
| Andy Warhol
(1968?1980)
Alan Wanzenberg (1980?1996)
|
---|
Relatives
| Jay Johnson
(brother)
|
---|
Jed Johnson
(December 30, 1948 – July 17, 1996) was an American
interior designer
and
film director
.
The
New York Times
hailed Johnson as "one of the most celebrated interior designers of our time."
[1]
Initially hired as a
custodian
at artist
Andy Warhol
's
Factory
, Johnson moved in with Warhol after he was shot to help him recuperate, and they subsequently had a romantic relationship for 12 years.
[2]
Johnson rose through the ranks at The Factory from assisting director
Paul Morrissey
to directing a film on his own. He edited several films, including
Trash
(1970),
Heat
(1972),
and
Blood for Dracula
(1974), and he directed the film
Bad
(1977) before starting a decorating business. Johnson was a member of the
Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board
following Warhol's death.
Johnson was known for his signature
American Empire style
when decorating. His clients included
Mick Jagger
,
Pierre Berge
,
Yves Saint Laurent
, and
Barbra Streisand
. Johnson had become one of the most acclaimed interior designers when he was killed in a
plane crash
aboard
TWA Flight 800
in 1996.
[3]
He was posthumously inducted into the
Interior Design
Hall of Fame
and
Architectural Digest
named him as one of "The World's 20 Greatest Designers of All Time."
[4]
In 2005, Rizzoli published the book
Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint
, a monograph and remembrance by his twin brother
Jay Johnson
.
Life and career
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Jed Johnson was born in
Alexandria, Minnesota
on December 30, 1948. He was the fourth of six children, born 15 minutes after his
fraternal twin
brother Jay Johnson.
[5]
When he was ten, Johnson's family moved to
Scottsdale, Arizona
before settling in
Fair Oaks, California
.
[6]
His father was a physician and an amateur pilot with his own airport.
[6]
Johnson dated journalist
Joan Lunden
in high school and they remained lifelong friends.
[7]
[8]
Johnson graduated from
Bella Vista High School
in 1967.
[5]
[10]
Johnson briefly attended
American River College
in
Sacramento, California
before hitchhiking to New York City with his brother Jay in early 1968.
[6]
[11]
They found an apartment in
Manhattan's East Village
through a heroin addict, got mugged, and lost their last $200.
[13]
They were offered a job at
Western Union
when they went to collect money their mother had sent them.
[14]
Warhol years
[
edit
]
A few weeks later, Johnson delivered a telegram to the
Decker building
where artist Andy Warhol had recently relocated
The Factory
.
[15]
Johnson accepted an on-the-spot job offer by director
Paul Morrissey
to help get the new Factory into shape, which included stripping wood and sweeping floors.
[16]
[17]
[15]
Shortly after, Warhol loaned Johnson money for a deposit to move into an apartment in a safer neighborhood on East 17th Street and
Irving Place
.
[6]
[14]
Johnson was installing fluorescent lights at The Factory when Warhol was shot by
Valerie Solanas
on June 3, 1968.
[18]
He had returned to the Factory from the hardware store when Warhol arrived and they entered the building with Solanas.
[17]
Johnson hid from the gunshots in Warhol's office; Solanas tried to enter the room but he held the door shut.
[17]
As Warhol was taken to
Columbus Hospital
, Johnson and Warhol's manager
Fred Hughes
were held for questioning at the 13th Precinct police station.
[19]
[17]
Johnson visited Warhol regularly during his hospitalization and they developed a deep relationship.
[6]
Subsequently, Johnson moved into Warhol's townhouse at 1342
Lexington Avenue
in
Carnegie Hill
to become his
caregiver
and to look after his mother
Julia Warhola
.
During Warhol's recovery, a romantic relationship ensued and Johnson came to "fill the traditional role of a devoted young spouse."
Johnson became an integral part of Warhol's inner circle, traveling with the artist, and assisting him and Morrissey with their films.
[15]
Johnson assisted Morrisey on the film
Flesh
(1968), and he taught himself how to edit film on The Factory's
Moviola
.
He edited the films
Trash
(1970),
Heat
(1972),
L'Amour
(1972),
Flesh for Frankenstein
(1973), and
Andy Warhol's Dracula
(1974).
[23]
[24]
Johnson made his directorial debut with
Bad
(1977) starring
Carroll Baker
.
[25]
Although it was a commercial failure, Johnson maintained that it was a good film, as did Morrissey, but he felt in over his head.
[26]
[27]
As a result, Johnson abandoned filmmaking and began buying and selling antiques.
[28]
In 1977, Johnson and Warhol's relationship began to deteriorate, spurred on by Warhol's partying and his friendship with
Victor Hugo
.
[29]
Johnson, who was not comfortable with the
Studio 54
crowd, recalled: "When Studio 54 opened things changed with Andy. That was New York when it was at the height of its most decadent period, and I didn't take part. … I was always really shy and had a really hard time socially anyway, and I didn't like the people. Andy was just wasting his time, and it was really upsetting. … He just spent his time with the most ridiculous people."
[28]
Johnson also suffered from depression which was exacerbated by Warhol being emotionally distant.
"I knew Andy for twelve years ... He never talked about anything personal to me ever," said Johnson.
[28]
Johnson attempted suicide twice during their relationship, in 1970 and 1978.
[33]
Johnson had aspirations to become a pilot and had paid for flying lessons but due to his suicide attempt, he was unable to obtain his license.
In 1980, while still residing with Warhol, Johnson purchased a duplex apartment to use as an office for his decorating business at 15 West 67th Street.
[6]
He moved out of Warhol's townhouse and into the apartment in December 1980.
They shared custody of their two
dachshunds
, Archie and Amos, following their split.
In 1982, Warhol amended his will to exclude Johnson.
[38]
His manager Fred Hughes remained the executor and
Vincent Fremont
, The Factory manager, replaced Johnson as the backup executor.
[38]
In 1995, Johnson became a member of the
Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board
, which was a private corporation that certified the authenticity of works by Warhol.
[39]
During his relationship with Warhol, Johnson amassed several of his paintings.
[40]
His collection included
Silver Elvis
,
Front and Back Dollar Bills
,
Mao
,
Flowers,
and other assorted signed Warhol silkscreens which his twin brother Jay Johnson inherited after his death.
[41]
[42]
[43]
Warhol also created portraits of Johnson and their dachshunds.
[44]
Design career
[
edit
]
In 1974, Johnson found a townhouse for Warhol at 57
East 66th Street
in
Lenox Hill
.
[46]
Johnson had enjoyed organizing and decorating Warhol's Lexington Avenue townhouse so when they moved to a larger residence he was put in charge of designing its interiors.
[48]
Johnson drew inspiration from his travels with Warhol over the years and was "greatly influenced by the quality of furniture and collections he saw and by the style with which they were displayed."
[49]
[26]
Johnson expanded Warhol's growing collections and experimented with three different styles:
Neoclassical
,
Art Deco
, and
Victorian
.
[5]
In contrast to The Factory which had an open-door policy, Warhol allowed few people into his home.
[5]
Art collector
Stuart Pivar
, a friend of Johnson and Warhol's, said, "Jed built period rooms of such refinement and perfection. The level of quality in that house had no equal."
[50]
"Jed influenced Andy to appreciate fine old things. It probably influenced Andy towards the classical theme of art," he added.
[50]
In 1977, Johnson started a decorating business with Judith Hollander, which he ran from home.
[51]
His connection with Warhol helped him build a network of celebrity clients.
[6]
Johnson became close friends with art collectors Sandra Brant and
Peter Brant
.
[1]
In 1978, Johnson and Hollander decorated Peter Brant and Joe Allen's office building in
Greenwich, Connecticut
.
Johnson purchased a house with the Brants in Colorado in the late 1970s.
Johnson also decorated their White Birch Farm in Greenwich after its completion in 1983.
[54]
One of Johnson's early commissions was decorating French businessman
Pierre Berge
's apartment at
The Pierre
hotel in New York City.
[6]
[55]
He collaborated with architect
Peter Marino
on this project.
[56]
Johnson's business with Hollander quickly became successful. They designed
Yves Saint Laurent
's New York headquarters with architect Michael Hollander in 1979.
[57]
While Johnson's relationship with Warhol was disintegrating, he grew closer to architect Alan Wanzenberg in 1980.
Wanzenberg worked at
I.M. Pei
in New York.
[60]
They were introduced by a mutual friend, art dealer
Thomas Ammann
, and became collaborators which developed into a romantic relationship.
Eventually, Wanzenberg moved into Johnson's apartment on Manhattan's West Side.
[6]
In 1982, they co-founded a design company, which they ran jointly until they created their separate entities?Jed Johnson & Associates and Alan Wanzenberg Architect.
[13]
[41]
However, they continued to collaborate on projects together such as creating the
Interview
magazine offices.
[23]
[60]
In 1991, they participated in
Metropolitan Home
magazine's ShowHouse benefit for the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS (DIFFA).
[62]
[63]
Johnson's firm attracted high-profile clients, including
Mick Jagger
,
Jerry Hall
,
Barbra Streisand
,
Richard Gere
,
Carl Icahn
, and the
Sperone Westwater
gallery for which he created a new exhibition space.
[48]
[64]
Johnson was noted for his generosity and he would also send furniture to friends who could not afford his services.
[48]
Despite not having a design background or any formal training, Johnson had a natural eye for detail.
[64]
Architecture critic
Paul Goldberger
wrote for
Architectural Digest
:
Johnson … had the eye of a
connoisseur
and the compositional gift of an artist. His rooms were assemblages of splendid pieces, set in sensual wholes. He was as interested in fabric and texture as in mass and shape, which is why he could hang a
Cy Twombly
painting on eighteenth-century Chinese wallpaper or a Venetian-glass chandelier next to a huge nineteenth-century Irish
scagliola
urn. It was not the cleverness of the combination that intrigued Johnson; it was the way the shapes and the textures played off each other.
[11]
For several years, Johnson was not aware of other designers' work, but by the mid-1980s he was paying attention to other people's work.
[26]
Specifically, he admired the work of
Renzo Mongiardino
,
Jacques Grange
, Patrick Naggar, Peter Marino, Stephen Sill, and
Philippe Starck
.
[26]
After Johnson's death, the name of his company was changed from Jed Johnson & Associates to Jed Johnson Associates in 1997. His protege Arthur Dunnam was appointed to lead the studio as design director.
[41]
In 2016, the company's name was changed to Arthur Dunnam for Jed Johnson Studio.
[41]
Death
[
edit
]
On July 17, 1996, Johnson was traveling to Paris on a shopping trip to find antiques for a client's home.
[5]
He was killed at age 47 along with 229 other passengers and crew members aboard
TWA Flight 800
when the plane exploded off the coast of
Long Island, New York
during a flight departing from
John F. Kennedy International Airport
.
[65]
As a passenger in
first class
, Johnson was killed instantly.
[5]
His body was one of the first recovered a mile from the crash scene in the
Atlantic Ocean
.
[5]
Johnsons' longtime friend
Joan Lunden
, former co-host of
Good Morning America
, eulogized him on air.
[66]
She spoke of their friendship and shared a photo of Johnson with Alan Wanzenberg, and expressed her condolences.
[66]
She referred to Wanzenberg as his domestic partner, which drew praise from the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
because Wanzenberg was referred to as Johnson's business partner in initial reports.
[66]
Johnson's family and friends such as writer
Fran Lebowitz
, and art collector
Stuart Pivar
released statements following his death.
[5]
[50]
[1]
Interview
magazine's editor-in-chief
Ingrid Sischy
remembered the life of her friend in the Winter 1996 issue.
[23]
A 4-year investigation revealed that an explosive mixture of fuel vapor and air in a fuel tank caused a short circuit, which was the likely cause of the accident.
[67]
As a result, new prerequisites were created to prevent future gas tank blasts in airplanes.
[67]
Legacy
[
edit
]
In 1996, Johnson was inducted into the
Interior Design
Hall of Fame
.
[68]
House & Garden
magazine dedicated an issue to him and
Architectural Digest
ran a five-page photo layout of his work.
[5]
In 2005, Rizzoli published the book
Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint
, a monograph documenting his career. Organized by his brother Jay Johnson, the book has contributions by architecture critic Paul Goldberger, former
Interview
editor
Bob Colacello
, Yves Saint Laurent co-founder Pierre Berge, and former
Interview
co-owner Sandra Brant. A celebratory re-edition of the book was released in 2023.
[54]
In 2006, Johnson's brother Jay Johnson created Jed Johnson Home, which provides luxury textiles for interior use to designers and architects.
[33]
In 2010, Johnson was named by
Architectural Digest
as one of "The World's 20 Greatest Designers of All Time."
[4]
In 2022, Johnson's relationship with Warhol was explored in the
Netflix
docuseries
The Andy Warhol Diaries
.
[33]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Director
Associate Producer
Cinematographer
- Women in Revolt
(1971)
- L'Amour
(1972)
Editor
Bibliography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
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"Jed Johnson: Grace interrupted"
.
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. Retrieved
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2014
.
- ^
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"
.
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. Retrieved
March 26,
2024
.
- ^
EXPLOSION ABOARD T.W.A. FLIGHT 800: VICTIMS;Lives of Beauty and Business, Sports and Scholarship, Youth and Age
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- ^
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- ^
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"
.
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.
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. Cambridge University Press. p. 23.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
23
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- ^
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"Interior Design Hall of Fame"
. Archived from
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on April 23, 2008
. Retrieved
April 22,
2008
.
External links
[
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]
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