Walt Johnston "Thirsty Work" — Lithograph #45/150, 1984

"Thirsty Work" is a black-and-white lithograph by New Mexico contemporary realist Walt Johnston, numbered 45 of 150 and dated 1984. The subject is a ranch hand or welder standing in profile — cowboy hat pushed back, respirator mask strapped to his face, quilted jacket over denim overalls, a welding torch or marking tool loosely in hand, a metal pail at his boots. The collision of working-class gear with Western dress is Johnston at his most quietly subversive: this is the American West not as romance but as labor, rendered with the same photographic precision he brought to every subject. The texture of the quilted jacket, the scuff on the denim, the reflective curve of the respirator lens — all land with the specificity of direct observation. Title inscribed lower left, edition number 45/150 at center, pencil signature with copyright and date lower right. Western Graphics Workshop blind emboss present on sheet.

This print is the third in a matching set — all numbered 45/150 — alongside "The Right Spur" (1983) and "National Anthem" (1983), available separately in this sale.

Artist Biography

Walt Johnston (1932–2018) was an Albuquerque-based contemporary realist whose draftsmanship was so exacting his paintings are routinely mistaken for photographs. Born in Washington, D.C., the son of an architect, he learned to draw early — not to describe the world but to find the truth in it. During World War II the family relocated to Illinois, where Johnston studied at the Chicago Art Institute and earned national recognition before the age of sixteen, taking a prize at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh in 1948. He later studied and taught alongside Eliot O'Hara NA, one of the foremost American watercolorists of the twentieth century. Johnston settled in New Mexico and became one of the state's most respected contemporary voices, producing oils, watercolors, and lithographs across subjects ranging from Albuquerque cityscapes to ranch and cowboy life. His work entered the permanent collection of the Albuquerque Museum through three separate commissions and has appeared in exhibitions at the National Academy of Design, the Boston Printmakers Annual, and the Society of American Graphic Artists at Kennedy Galleries in New York. His prints and paintings are held in museums and private collections worldwide.

CONDITION

Very Good. Sheet is clean and bright with no foxing, tears, or visible toning. Frame and double mat present with no remarkable damage.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

⚑ Awaiting frame and sight dimensions from James

• Medium: Lithograph, black and white
• Title: "Thirsty Work"
• Artist: Walt Johnston (American, 1932–2018)
• Date: 1984
• Edition: #45 of 150
• Title inscription: Lower left margin, in pencil
• Edition number: Center margin, in pencil (45/150)
• Signature: © Walt Johnston 1984, lower right margin, in pencil
• Publisher's mark: Western Graphics Workshop blind emboss on sheet
• Frame: Metal, double mat (cream with black liner), glazed