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Listed Canadian Artist: (1888-1949) Founding member of the Group of 7.
Rous & Mann: Museum quality Christmas Card Production Proof, circa 1925
Signed: Initaled 'F.J.' in the lower right of print.
Print Variety: Created using the Dell’Acqua print technique, not a serigraph.
Pre-Production Proof: Possibly, only this copy exists, as our research tells us that there's no record of another Dell'Acqua print like it from Rous & Mann.
Sight size: W: 4 3/4 in. x H: 3 5/8 in.
Title Unknown: Our title, “Snowy Midnight”.
Print Condition: Pristine, no condition issues and maintains clean colours.
Frame & Mats: Acid-free archival materials incorporated throughout.
Please Note: Because documentation is scarce for cards such as this one, we've conducted ongoing research concerning the origins of this particular unknown Rous and Mann Christmas card. This museum quality unpublished 'pre-production proof' was part of an established collection along with 4 other Rous and Mann 'Canadian Artist Series' Dell'Acqua cards. These 4 other pristine condition cards depict seasonal Christmas themes by well known Montreal artist Paul Archibald Caron, ARCA.
It's our belief that this group of five cards, as a whole, has a direct connection back to the Rous and Mann operation in the mid 1920's. With the most obvious link being this company's unsigned 'production proof' Franz Johnston Christmas card, created using the undeniably distinct Dell'Acqua printmaking process with 'workshop' back notations.
Frank Hans Johnston, RCA, Group of 7
A Note of Interest: The fine art Christmas cards produced by Rous and Mann and Wm. Coutts in the 1920's and 30's stand as some of the earliest and most culturally significant examples of Canadian art being adapted for large-scale public appreciation. Emerging at a time when the nation was beginning to define its visual identity, these cards bridged the worlds of commercial printing and fine art, bringing works by some of the leading Canadian artists of the day directly into homes across the country.
Rous and Mann's production quality was exceptionally high for the era—often employing the Dell’Acqua process, a labour-intensive hand method that recreated the tonal richness and painterly character of the original artworks with remarkable fidelity.
Around this same time Wm. Coutts Ltd. began producing Christmas cards using the serigraph/silkscreen method of printing. Today, surviving examples of these early Coutts cards are considered quite rare, especially ones in fine condition. All of these cards were intended for seasonal use and many were eventually lost or discarded, leaving only a small fraction preserved by families, collectors or archivists who recognized their charm and artistic value.
As the public appetite grows for Canadian art created during the 1920s, today each one of these surviving cards serves as a miniature historical document.
For collectors and scholars alike, these early Rous & Mann and Wm. Coutts Christmas cards represent an important intersection of art, design, and Canadian printmaking history.They stand out as being small, but alluring artifacts from a formative moment in Canada’s early 20th century artistic development.
Among the most intriguing surviving artifacts of early 20th-century Canadian printmaking are the prototype and pre-production proof impressions produced by the Toronto design and lithography firm Rous & Mann Ltd., a company that played a pivotal role in bridging fine art and commercial art during the 1910s to the 1930s. While Rous & Mann is well known for its collaboration with Group of Seven members and for its beautifully crafted 'Canadian Artists Series' of Christmas cards in the 1920s, far less commonly encountered are the few experimental impressions created in their studio as part of the internal development process. It's known that in total, 5 members of the Group of 7 worked at Rous & Mann, along with fellow artist Tom Thomson.
These pre-production proof prints were used to test their artistic collaborations, evaluate the reproduction techniques and methods used, or to submit them for client approvals. In other words, these pre-production samples were not created for public consumption, but an employee could have eventually ended up with one for his or her own personal collection. The discovery of a Franz Johnston card employing the Dell’Acqua method strongly suggests that this piece belongs to that rare category of early pre-production proofs.
To place this card in context, it is essential first to understand the distinct nature of the Dell’Acqua technique. Rooted in the broader European tradition of pochoir prints—a labor-intensive method in which colour is applied through hand-cut stencils using brushes or daubers. The Dell’Acqua technique offered a level of chromatic subtlety and artisanal finish, something that was impossible to achieve through standard commercial lithography of the period. Rous & Mann adopted this technique selectively in the early 1920s, primarily for their higher-end art cards, where they sought to capture the immediacy and layered painterly effect of original watercolour and gouache artworks. Their studio colourists were trained to apply pigment in delicate veils, sometimes using slightly varied pressures and brush-loadings to create atmospheric gradations reminiscent of a fine painting rather than a mass-produced greeting card.
Against this backdrop, it becomes significant that no historical, physical, or stylistic evidence indicates that the other major card producer at that time, Wm. Coutts Co. Ltd., employed Dell’Acqua or any analogous stencil-applied colour method or technique during the same period. William Coutts Co., though prolific, focused on mass production using offset lithography, serigraphy and chromolithographic processes, methods that were optimized for scale and consistency, not artisanal colour application. Wm. Coutts cards from the 1910s –1930s characteristically exhibit mechanical dot structures or silkscreen overlays, regularised colour boundaries, and standardized paper stocks that differ markedly from the textured, hand-finished surfaces associated with Rous & Mann’s specialist lines. For this reason alone, the presence of the Dell’Acqua technique strongly removes Coutts from consideration as a source of this particular pre-production proof Christmas card.
This makes the Franz Johnston example here particularly notable. Johnston, as a founding member of the Group of Seven and a highly regarded painter and commercial designer, had direct working ties to Rous & Mann during the 1910s and early 1920s. Although the published Canadian Artists Series categorically does not list a commercially released Christmas card by Johnston, archival history does show that Rous & Mann regularly solicited designs from artists whose imagery aligned with the aesthetic sensibilities of the era’s 'Modern Art Movements' greeting card market.
We've also got to consider that not every design submitted or tested would ultimately be approved for general release. Economic considerations and client preferences, along with the cost of translating certain palettes and designs into production, and the marketing direction of a given season could all influence which artworks eventually moved from the proof stage to its final 'retail print' production.
The card listed here bears the unmistakable hallmarks of a Rous & Mann production proof. The Dell’Acqua colour layering displays the soft atmospheric transitions, signature textural brush usage, and minute hand-applied irregularities characteristic of their colourists’ work. The paper size and proportion (5½ × 4⅜ inches) precisely match Rous & Mann’s standard formats for the early 1920's art card lines.
Most revealing is the back-of-card production notations, which reads “5 1/2 x 4 3/8 R #20”, without any commercial imprint. Rous & Mann rarely issued retail cards without its printed company branding, catalogue numbers, or their distinctive backstamp, unless if the item was a studio test piece, an internal pre-production proof, or an advance submission for review. Such code-based annotations do appear periodically in surviving production materials associated with their experimental and sample batches.
In combination, these factors confirm to us that this Franz Johnston card is most certainly an unpublished Dell’Acqua, pre-production proof Christmas card, executed by Rous & Mann, created to evaluate the feasibility of issuing a Johnston card within their Canadian Artists Series or a parallel high-end line of cards. Whether this image was rejected due to its complex design and production cost, its perceived commercial appeal, or a simple production oversight, will remain unknown. But the presence of a proof indicates the idea progressed well into the colour testing phase. Such proofs were never produced in quantity; in many cases, only one or two impressions were created for internal circulation among the art director, studio foreman, and occasionally the artist or client institution.
The survival of such a unique unpublished proof in mint condition, would certainly seem to enhance its rarity and value today. Many proof impressions were either discarded after seasonal campaigns concluded, were reused for notes, or were lost to damage. So, it seems that very few would have ever entered private collections, excepting maybe, by an employee of the company.
As such, this Johnston Dell'Acqua card example fills an important gap in the documented history of Rous & Mann’s collaborations with major Canadian painters. It demonstrates that the firm explored a broader roster of artists for their 'artist card' lines than what appears in published catalogues. And it reveals the high degree of craftsmanship that they were willing to invest in while reproducing works by the leading Canadian artist's of the modernists movements.
For researchers, collectors, and dealers specializing in Canadian print culture, this pre-production proof stands as a compelling artifact of the intersection between fine art and commercial production in the 1920s. It enriches the narrative of Johnston’s applied art output, underscores the technical sophistication of Rous & Mann’s studio, and adds new material evidence to the under-studied field of early Canadian Dell’Acqua and pochoir practices. While understated in scale, this Johnston card is a rare witness to the moment when Canadian art printing sought to elevate commercial reproduction into a separate art form—where the collaboration between artist, colourist, and printer briefly aligned to produce objects of extraordinary refinement.
Francis Hans Johnston, known to us as Frank or Franz, started his art career as an apprentice jewelry designer with Ryrie Bros. of Toronto in 1904. He studied during the evenings at the Central Technical School and the Ontario College of Art under William Cruikshank, Gustav Hahn, and George A. Reid, while also working as a commercial artist with Brigdens Limited, which was a prominent graphics production company in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1911 he worked at the commercial art design firm Grip Ltd in Toronto, where he met other future Group of Seven members J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, and Franklin Carmichael. A quick note concerning the importance of Grip Ltd. is found at the following link, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grip_Ltd. The following year, he moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and eventually acquired a position with the prestigious design firm, Carleton Studios in New York. After three years there Franz decided that it was time to move back to Toronto in 1915.
Franz Johnston was commissioned to paint scenes of the 'home front' during the First World War for the Canadian War Memorials Fund in 1918. During evenings and weekends he sketched Ontario's Royal Canadian Air Force training camps including aircraft in various manoeuvres, some of which he developed into paintings. In the late summer of 1918, he travelled to the wilderness of the Algoma region near Sault Ste. Marie with artists Lawren Harris, J.E.H.MacDonald and art patron Dr. James MacCallum. Johnston's work from these trips caught the interplay of light, colour and pattern in the woods in a decorative style, with an emphasis on flat planes of colour. In Fire-Swept, Algoma (1920) patches of blues and greens delineate the hills in the background, while the remains of a burnt forest are detailed in the foreground.
In May of 1920, a group of painters including Frank Hans (Franz) Johnston exhibited as the Group of Seven for the first time at the Grange in Toronto and were hailed as developing a truly Canadian movement. In December 1920, Johnson mounted the first of many independent exhibitions at the Eaton's of Canada Gallery where the Toronto press praised his handling of light and imagery.
In 1921 he moved to Winnipeg to become the Principal at the College of Art and Director of the Gallery until 1924, when at that time he returned to Toronto and joined the teaching staff at the Ontario College of Art. It was in that same year that he severed his formal associations with the Group of Seven.
Changing his perspective: In 1926, Frank Hans Johnston officially changed his name and painting signature to "Franz Johnston" following the advice of a numerologist friend from New York. This friend had convinced him that by continung the use of his given name, Frank H. Johnston, would hinder his success, and by adopting the name "Franz", it would bring him more prestige, higher financial reward and it could even change his perspective on life. Throughout his career, Franz Johnston achieved notable recognition as an accomplished Canadian artist. He was a member of several prestigious art organizations, including the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy and the 'Group of 7', affirming his prominent status and influence within the Canadian art realm of the day.
It's a little known fact that, Franz Johnston's wife, Florence, also operated an arts and craft shop from their home in Toronto during the late 1920s and 1930s. Florence was involved in running the shop, that sold various crafts, paintings and prints, which contributed to the family's income and supporting Franz's artistic endeavors.
Franz was invited to Eldorado on Great Bear Lake, NWT, where he spent six months in 1939 sketching both the landscape and activities of northern aboriginal peoples. Upon his return, he and his wife settled in Wyebridge, Ontario, converting the village hall into a home and painting studio. He travelled regularly to northern Ontario to paint, and made his last trip into the Nipigon territory in 1946. During his last summers he painted pastoral subjects in Quebec, Baie St. Paul, villages in the Laurentians and the Ottawa Valley.
Franz Johnston passed away at the age of 61 in July 1949.
His wife, Florence Gifford Johnston, passed away in 1961.
Copyright 2026 © FineArtandAntiques.ca
Print Ref No: 4TAO25KENJ-S/AOEX
Rous & Mann Limited was a prominent Toronto printing and design firm, descended from Grip Ltd., where many future Group of Seven members including J.E.H. MacDonald, F.H. Johnston, Franklin Carmichael, and Fred Varley honed their commercial art skills.
In the early 1920s, Rous & Mann sought to elevate the commercial greeting card into a form of fine art reproduction. To do this, they commissioned original small-scale designs from leading contemporary Canadian painters of the day. To reproduce the subtlety of the artists’ watercolours and oils, Rous & Mann employed a hand-stencilled watercolour process known as the Dell’Acqua technique.
The “Dell’Acqua” colour process that Rous & Mann used for their 1920s Christmas cards, known as the Canadian Artists Series was essentially a hand-stencilled watercolour over a printed outline technique.
Here’s an accurate rundown on how they were produced...
What the process is: A black (or single-colour) outline of the design was printed first, usually by letterpress or similar printing method. A stencil (pochoir) was then aligned over that outline and colour washes were applied by hand, effectively using watercolor or gouache rather than conventional printing inks for the colour areas.
Why Rous & Mann used it and eventually discontinued it usage: The technique created a richer, 'painterly' appearance that suited reproductions of the works by living Canadian artists, A.Y. Jackson, Clarence Gagnon, Paul Caron, Franz Johnston and others that were used in the Canadian Artists Series. It was more expensive and labour-intensive than standard multi-colour printing.
By 1929, with the onset of the Great Depression, production costs for the Dell’Acqua process became unsustainable due to the amount of hand-work involved. Rous & Mann then shifted toward simpler printed cards using the serigraph-silkscreen technique or letterpress, and the “Canadian Artists Series” quietly ended.
Later, other Canadian firms, especially William E. Coutts Ltd. later known as Hallmark Canada continued the idea of commissioning artists for cards, but the hand-coloured artistry of the original 1920s' series was never repeated on that scale.
Alternate names and origins: You’ll see the term written a few different ways... Dell’Acqua, Del-Acqua, Dell-Aqua; sources say it was a French developed watercolour stencil reproduction technique adapted for commercial greeting cards in the early 1920s. But, by the early 1930's it was the last vestige of the truelly 'hand-made' Christmas card.
Between 20 and 30 Canadian artists contributed designs to the series, including:
A.Y. Jackson, Clarence Gagnon, Franz Johnston, J.W. Beatty, L.A.C. Panton, Fred Varley, Nora Collyer, Kathleen Morris, Anne Savage, Ethel Seath, L.L. Fitzgerald, and
Sarah Robertson among a few other notable contributing artists.
Copyright 2026 © FineArtandAntiques.ca
Paul Archibald Caron, Noted Canadian Artist
Updated September 3, 2026 |
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