Born in Florence, South Carolina, on March 18, 1901, William H. Johnson studied at the National Academy of Design; the Cape Cod School of Art, under Charles Hawthorne; in southern France from 1926 to 1929; and in Denmark and Norway from 1930 to 1938. Johnson was a pioneering black modernist whose ever-developing work went from abstract expressionist landscape and flower studies influenced by Vincent Van Gogh, to studies of black life in America, and finally to abstract figure studies in the manner of Georges Rouault.
His exhibits include the Harmon Foundation, which awarded him a gold medal in 1929; Aarlins, Denmark, 1935; the Baltimore Museum, 1939; and the American Negro Exposition in Chicago, 1940. He produced one-person shows in Copenhagen in 1935, and at New York’s Artists Gallery in 1938. His notable works include Booker T. Washington, Young Man in Vest, Descent from the Cross, and On a John Brown Flight. Johnson died on April 13, 1970.
Citations:
William H. Johnson (1901--1970). (2012). In L. Bracks, African American almanac : 400 years of triumph, courage and excellence. Canton, MI: Visible Ink Press.
Morris, L. I. (2016). William H. Johnson. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia.
Born: March 18, 1901 at Florence, South Carolina
Died: April 13, 1970