Johansen came to Chicago with his parents when he was one year old. He attended Chicago public schools and later the Art Institute under John Vanderpoel (1891-97). He also studied under Duveneck in Cincinnati. Travelling to Paris he studied at the Academie Julian under Laurens and Constant and briefly with Whistler.
Upon his return he studied at the Art Students League with Clinedienst, Mowbray, George de Forest Brush, Howard Chandler Christy and Bryson Burroughs (ca. 1900-1903). He then taught at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1905 he married (Myrtle) Jean MacLane, whom he had met while the two were students at the Art Institute. Shortly after their marriage they spent two years in Venice where they studied portraiture. Upon their return they established separate studios in New York. Johansen was an instructor at the Art Students League (1912-1916).
In 1920 they came to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where they purchased a farm they called Weybourne Hill. They became very active in the art scene in Stockbridge and Pittsfield. Johansen painted a number of works for the sculptor Daniel Chester French in the period 1921-29 that are at Chesterwood today. In 1935 they sold their farm and moved to New Canaan, CT.
Johansen was primarily a portrait painter but also did the figure, landscape and architecture.
