William H. Johnson 1901-1970 Modernism, Primitivism/Folk Art In the vertical art storage rack you will find the following reproductions and posters: Reproductions: Going to Church (1932) (Genre Painting) Street Musicians (1940) (Genre Painting) The Home Front (1942) (Portrait) Posters: The Art Elements & Principles posters to use in the discussion In the black cabinet you will find a white binder with a copy of this presentation and several 8.5x11 color prints of the other artwork referenced in the presentation. In the plastic bin you will find the book Li'l Sis and Uncle Willie by Gwen Everett. Updated January 25, 2014
William H. Johnson 2 Personal Information Name: Nationality: Born: Died: Lived: Family: William H. Johnson American March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina April 13, 1970 in Long Island, New York Raised in South Carolina, as a young man lived in Harlem, NY, then Paris, then Scandinavia, then back to New York. His mother and father were Alice Smoot Johnson (known as Mom Alice or Aunt Alice ) and Henry Johnson. William H. Johnson was oldest of 5 children. His brother and sisters were Lacy, Lucy, James, and Lillian. He married Danish textile artist Holcha Krake, but never had any children of his own. Elements of Art Note to Presenters: When looking at Johnson s work, keep in mind the Elements of Art: the line, shape, color, form, and texture. This laminated print is available to bring into the classroom, it shows and describes all the things that go into making a work of art and can be shown to the children so that they too may keep these things in mind as they look at the paintings and get ready for the discussion. Artist Background William H. Johnson was an African-American painter and printmaker best known for his lively depictions of the African-American experience in the farms of the South and cities of the North. Born to a poor family, he had almost no formal art teaching growing up in South Carolina, but he used to love to copy the comic books. Ask: Has anyone ever drawn a favorite cartoon character? Which ones? Ask: Do you think copying the character helped you learn how to draw? At age 17, Johnson moved to New York City, just in time for the Harlem Renaissance, a time when young African-American men and women were finally allowed to embrace their culture and make great contributions to art, literature and music. Johnson supported himself by working as a cook, hotel porter, and dock laborer. He worked hard and saved enough money to pay for an art education and in September 1921 enrolled at the School of the National Academy of Design. He studied and practiced
William H. Johnson 3 and with time his mastery of the academy's high standards gained him both numerous awards and the respect of his teachers and fellow students. William Johnson worked with the painter Charles Hawthorne, who raised funds to send Johnson abroad to study. Europe was a place that welcomed artists of many different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. There he met and fell in love with Danish artist Holcha Krake, whom he married in 1930. The couple spent most of the '30s in Scandinavia, where Johnson's interest in primitivism and folk art began to have a noticeable impact on his work. Johnson enjoyed a degree of success as an artist during the 1940s and 1950s, but he was never able to achieve financial stability. When his wife Holcha died, he was greatly saddened. He left for Denmark to be with his wife's family, hoping it would help him, but he soon became ill himself. He returned to Long Island, New York where he spent the last twenty-three years of his life in a hospital. After his death, his entire life's work was almost disposed of to save storage fees, but thankfully friends rescued it at the last moment. Style and Technique Like many artists, William Johnson, enjoyed experimenting. He changed his style dramatically throughout the various stages of his life, depending on where he lived and what was going on in the world around him. He began his career copying cartoons as a child, but he would progress to paint very realistic still life. Show: 8x11in print in binder of Still Life (1923) Ask: Does anyone know what a Still Life painting is? Definition: a painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware. Ask: What do you think of how Johnson used light and shadow in this painting? Does it look like you could reach out and touch these things? Johnson spent the late 1920s in France, absorbing the lessons of Modernism and as a result, his work became more expressive and emotional. Modernism was a famous movement in art that encouraged artists to break from old traditions. Modernists believed that art should be valued for being art and artists should experiment with form and materials used to create the art.
William H. Johnson 4 Show: Self Portrait by William H. Johnson (1929) Ask: Can anyone tell me what a Self-Portrait is? A painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving of an artist by that artist usually of only the face or head and shoulders. Ask: Is there anything unusual about his self-portrait? Does it look like the artist is trying something different? What? Ask: What do you feel when you look at this painting? While living in Scandinavia with his wife, Johnson became influenced by Folk Art. In Folk Art you see an almost childlike approach to the subjects with little attention to proportion (how things look in relation to each other) or perspective (whether something looks correct up close compared to far away) and Johnson s own style began to take on this boldness of color and simplicity of shape and form. Show: Still Life - Bottles, Jugs, Pitcher (1938) Johnson painted this still life 15 years after the other one we looked at. Ask: How is it different from his earlier still life? What do you think of it in comparison? Ask: What kinds of shapes do you see? Ask: What about how he used color? Ask: Is the light and shadow obvious? No, it is flat. Flat color uses little or no variation in color. Subjects lose detail and depth. Ask: Does this painting look real to you? Why or why not? After returning to the US, Johnson spent his time producing work characterized by a folk art simplicity that would come to define his style. His best paintings notably place simple, flattened figures, in a limited but bright palette of color, on abstracted ground, depicting scenes of daily life with great personality and intensity. He took up screen-printing which allowed him to focus on simplified forms and bold colors, which he enjoyed. He printed works on assorted found papers and often completed his images by hand with tempera, making each print slightly different from the next.
William H. Johnson 5 "I am not afraid to exaggerate a contour (edge or outline), a form, or anything that gives more character and movement to the canvas." William Johnson Featured Artwork (Presenter may select from any or all of the featured works. Remember that the companion 8.5x11 print for each reproduction is available in the binder.) Going To Church (1941) (Genre Art, Primitivism, oil on burlap) This type of painting is known as a Genre (pronounced shawn-rah) paintings. These paintings are typically of scenes from the daily life of the artist or the community they live in. In Going to Church Johnson applies his command of color and direct style to the subjects of the rural south, the setting of his childhood where going to church being a common activity for many people who live there. It has been suggested that African textiles and African-American quilts also influenced Johnson. Examples of this are the stripes and the patchwork of colored bands to create plowed fields. Notice how the cloud in this painting is particularly nice. It links the small trees, and then expands for the longer journey to the blue shack. Ask: What lines depict movement or stillness in this panting and where do you see these types of lines in the painting? Diagonal lines for movement and straight lines for calm In looking at this painting you can see that Johnson took the time to make sure there were two of everything. Ask: How many pairs can you find in this painting? Matching trees, two blue buildings, two crosses, double pairs of ox legs, two cart wheels, two people riding forward, two riding backward, with two feet dangling.
William H. Johnson 6 BONUS Show: The alternative 8.5x11 print in binder version of Going to Church (1940-1941) and ask the children to look for the similarities and differences. Street Musicians (1940) (Genre Art, Primitivism, Screen-print with tempera additions) This print shows a pair of musicians in an open-air performance that was common on the city's bustling streets. Ask: What about the shapes do you see in these paintings -- are they more geometric (squares, circles, rectangles) or free form? What are they? Squares, rectangles, ovals, diamonds, triangles Ask: Who do you think these people are? Husband and wife, sister and brother Ask: Do the people look real? Why or why not? Explain the difference between organic and geometric shapes. Organic Shapes irregular shapes of freely developed curves resembling those found in living organisms (people, animals, plants) Geometric Shapes _squares, rectangles, circles, etc) Ask: What lines to you see? Do those lines show motion or stillness and how would you describe them? Diagonal, angled, curvy. The composition's flatness, pure color, angular lines and curves help to make this still image move. Ask: What colors do you see? Contrasting Colors - a large difference between the two: warm & cool, dark & light. Contrasting colors add excitement and interest to a work of art. Ask: What kind of music would come from this painting? What instruments are they playing? Do you think it is sad or happy music? Why?
William H. Johnson 7 Ask: What does the pattern in the background look like to you? Does it help tell you where they could they be? A grid wall or a tiled street it is so flat it could be anything. Ask: How do you feel looking at this painting? Happy? Excited? BONUS Show: The alternative 8.5x11 print in binder version of Blind Singer - Street Musicians (1940) and ask the children to look for the similarities and differences. The Home Front (1942) (Portrait, Primitivism, oil on plywood) Ask: What do you think this is a painting of? Ask: Can you create a story of what may be happening? What do you think happened right before this? Where do you think this painting takes place? Ask: Why do you think Johnson may have decided to fill up so much space in the picture with blue? Ask: Did you know colors could be described as cool or warm? Are the colors in these paintings warm or cool? Cool (blues, green, and purple) and Warm (reds and yellows). Ask: How is the artist using color and light to tell us what is important in this picture? Ask: What is the light like in this painting? Very flat, no shadows, no light source Ask: How does that make you feel? Calm? Ask: Do you think the artists choice to use straight vertical lines help make this painting calm? Ask: How is the space divided? Ask: What about the shapes do you see in these paintings -- are they more geometric (squares, circles, rectangles) or free form?
William H. Johnson 8 Look carefully at the painting. Many different lines are repeated (e.g., verticals in the wallpaper and horizontals or the floor, chair and subjects shoulders). Have them describe the different kinds of lines they see. Ask: What patterns can you identify? Ask: Where does the artist use texture or pattern--in the setting or on the people? BONUS Show: The alternative 8.5x11 print in binder version of Folk Family (1944) and ask the children to look for the similarities and differences. Activities Reading options: You can read the book Li'l Sis and Uncle Willie, by Gwen Everett. Some content may be too advanced for elementary age children, so please be mindful of this and skip over anything that you feel they may not understand. Try at Home: Folk Art is about simplification. All around us we see very detailed and complicated objects. Find something in your house or school that might take you a long time to draw if you spent the time adding in all the detail. Instead of adding detail, take away detail. See what shapes make up your subject and draw them or paint them simply as you might have when you were younger. Resources http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/william-h-johnson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/william_johnson_(artist) http://bjws.blogspot.com/2012/10/american-artist-william-h-johnson-1901.htm http://arthistorynewsreport.blogspot.com/2013/06/william-h-johnsons-world-on-paper.html http://www.biography.com/people/william-h-johnson-21283799?page=2 http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=82639