Born in Toronto, Ontario, he studied at the Central Ontario School of Art in 1881; The Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins where he roomed with Donald McNab and G. A. Reid, 1883-4; the Académie Julian and the Académie Delance, 1889-90. He made a brief contact with Gaugin at Pont Aven in 1890. E. F. B. Johnston found simple beauty and dignity in his pastoral scenes. He won a prize at the Salon d’Apollon in the Louvre, 1891, for landscape. He was a founder-member of the Canadian Art Club in Toronto, 1907, and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy (A.R.C.A.). He is represented in the National Gallery of Canada by two landscapes.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977
