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Obituary Violet Mavis Johns Art director 25 October 1909 - 6 February 2001 Reference: The Advertiser Saturday March 3, 2001 p 70 by Nadine Williams. "Gallery doyenne's lifelong passion" Violet Johns began her long, distinguished career in art at age six with a "sixpenny book of outlines and a box of crayons". However, her passion for art manifested as the evergreen director of the John Martin's Gallery rather than self-expression. Miss Johns once described herself as "an artist who cannot find time to paint a canvas and be as well a gallery director". She had won a scholarship from the Houghton Public School to attend the South Australian School of Arts and Crafts but only attended full-time for two years before starting work at John Martin's as a designer. World War II interrupted her life in 1942, when "Johnsy", as she was known, became one of the first women to enlist in the Australian Women's Army Service in SA. She became the first female troop sergeant. On June 23, 1947, Warrant Officer Johns was the last woman discharged. After the War she returned to Johnnies and served for 55 years. In 1949, Mr Stefan Heysen resigned as the director of John Martin's Gallery and she assumed control. She often joked that her own work only ever consisted of "three line drawings and a patchwork quilt". "As an exhibitor, I can afford to be objective with both art and the artist, and that is a big advantage," she said. "When it comes to contrary opinions on an exhibition, I have a chance of winning the argument without having pettiness and professional jealousy laid against me." She loved the excitement of creating an art exhibition, sorting the works according to merit and was known to rehang some exhibitions four to five times. "You already know something of the artist's work but you haven't viewed it collectively until the canvases arrive. Then there's the final choice of a centre piece, the keystone around which is built a balance of color, tone and mood," she said. Kensington Galleries co-owner Susan Sideris describes Violet as an eclectic personality who was a dedicated cook and gardener in her retirement. Miss Johns bought her Toorak Gardens home in Hewitt Avenue when she turned 50. "She had the most wondrous treasures in her home. She would cook like a dream and pour the meanest gin," recalls Ms Sideris. "I cannot tell you how marvellous her garden was. She had an unerring eye and was a wonderful human being. She enveloped the world." Ms Sideris recalls one incident when the old woman was passing the Kensington Gallery on her way to buy milk. "On this day, I had a non-saleable exhibition from the Christensen Fund of 75 pieces of John Olsen's works on paper for a Festival show," she says. "It was all hanging there; the media was here and all sorts of people were milling about and in comes Violet, who had the voice of a sergeant major which carried across the parade ground, and she says, 'What's all this?'. When Ms Sideris explained it was John Olsen's work - who gets $200,000 a painting - Miss Johns loudly criticised the artist. "I didn't know where to look; Violet could be very blunt," Ms Sideris says. Known only as Auntie Vi or Sarg, she taught Ms Sideris a "PhD on assessing paintings". "She was 80 when I met her and she would hide the date with her hand and teach me how to tell when it was painted," says Ms Sideris. A long-time friend, the artist/sculptor John Dowie, once wrote a poem about her "joyous garden" and that patchwork quilt. Miss Johns played a significant role in heightening the appreciation and standard of art in Adelaide. She was one of a trio of women, along with Miss Lucy Swanton of Sydney's Macquarie Gallery and Miss Helen Ogilvie of Melbourne's Peter Bray Gallery, who shaped Australian's habits to visit private galleries. Miss Johns died in the Kensington Nursing Home aged 92 after suffering Alzheimer's disease for the past few years.