Christopher Michael Johns

Christopher Michael Johns, formerly of Lake City, passed away at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 8, following a long illness. He was 67. The second of two sons born to Claudie F. Johns, Jr., and Maizie Elizabeth Byrd Johns, "Mike" resided in Columbia County throughout his childhood and graduated from Columbia High School in 1973.
He is survived by his brother, Claudius F. Johns, III, "Skip" (Linda), a niece, Ashley Johns Thomas, a great-niece, Amory Thomas, and two great-nephews, Asher and Archer Thomas.
Mike graduated summa cum laude from Florida State University with a bachelor of arts. He went on to earn both a master of arts and a doctor of arts from the University of Delaware, where his doctoral thesis was titled, The Art Patronage of Pope Clement XI Albani and the Early Christian Revival in Eighteenth-Century Rome. He joined the Vanderbilt University faculty in 2003, from the University of Virginia, where he taught art history for 18 years. He was the Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Professor of Fine Arts and professor of history of art and architecture at Vanderbilt. He served as chair of the Department of History of Art from 2005 to 2009.
"I was fortunate to have known Christopher for 30 years first as colleagues at the University of Virginia, where he was in the art history department and I taught in the architecture school," said Kevin Murphy, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, professor of history of art and architecture, and department chair at Vanderbilt. "His reputation as a scholar and teacher preceded him, and over the years I have benefited from his insights about art, scholarship and teaching. Christopher has a wide circle of friends and colleagues that literally spans the globe. He touched many lives with his passion for art and scholarship, his humor and his keen wit."
Mike received numerous awards and fellowships during his career, including the Franklin Murphy Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the University of Kansas in 2009. He also spent two years in Munich, first as visiting distinguished research professor at Institut für Kunstgeschichte and then as scholar-in-residence at Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte. Other fellowships were at the American Academy in Rome and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art. He was a collector of art and antiques, a love he enjoyed throughout his life.
A memorial service and reception remembering and honoring Mike and his many contributions to art and art history will be held in the atrium at Cohen Memorial Hall on the Peabody Campus, 1220 21st Avenue South, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, September 17 at 2:00 to 4:00 PM.