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VISIONARY REVUE
ALPES MARITIMES
1962 - 1973
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The year of 1962 marked a major transition in Johfra’s life. He broke with Diana Vandenberg and began living with Ellen Lórien. This also required a move away from the Hague to Amsterdam. Two years later in 1964 Johfra and Ellen left Holland permanently and settled in Aspremont, an area north of Nice in the Alpes Maritimes of France.
In fact, they lived in a wooden hut no larger than a small room. The cold and dampness of winter made painting so difficult that Johfra had to wear fingerless gloves while working and kept his sleeves tied closed with string.
The drummel paintings continued in abundance until about 1973. So also the Mindstuff Landscapes which expanded in several directions. Sometimes the horizon was lost entirely, creating strange energy configurations. Other times, the growths of green moss and stone lichen gave way to a more recognizable landscape of Alpine mountains and the Mediterranean sea. The occasional esoteric symbol appeared in the Mindstuff Landscapes.
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ELLEN BEFORE THE WOODEN CABIN IN ASPREMONT
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His finished drawings in red and black pencil were another matter. These announced a new theme in his work: the classical hero battling a monster. This could be Hercules defeating the seven-headed Hydra, a serpent enwrapped about the limbs of the Laocoon, or a winged angel defeating a fallen demon.
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THE FIGHT BETWEEN A SERVENT
AND DEMON OF UNDERSTANDING II (1964)
(Gevecht van een dienaar met een demon van het verstand II)
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