February 2–April 8, 2007
William H. Johnson’s World on Paper
See seventy works by William H. Johnson (1901–1970) who, in only twenty years, created an extraordinary body of work that is recognized as a major achievement of American modernism.
Many of these prints, serigraphs, and drawings from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection have never been on view to the public, and together they reveal Johnson to be as powerful with graphic media as with oils and tempera. The bold, lively, and colorful works mark Johnson as one of the most experimental printmakers of his generation, and a related group of vivid watercolors and temperas further demonstrates the breadth of his graphic expression on paper.
Among the varied subjects of Johnson’s work that will be in the exhibition are early landscapes of Denmark, Norway, and North Africa; scenes of life in Harlem and the rural South; religious subjects; and scenes of black enlisted men and female volunteers of World War II.
William H. Johnson’s World on Paper is organized and circulated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition tour is supported in part by the C.F. Foundation, Atlanta and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Endowment Fund. The Fort Worth presentation of the exhibition is made possible in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts and JPMorgan Chase.
Admission is free.