Second Grade
William H. Johnson
Rural Life in South Carolina
LEARN
Who was William H. Johnson?
William H. Johnson was an artist who made use of as primitive style of painting to depict the experience of African-Americans during the 1930s and '40s.
William H. Johnson was born in 1901 in Florence, South Carolina. After deciding to pursue his dreams as an artist, he attended the National Academy of Design in New York and met his mentor, Charles Webster Hawthorne. After graduating, Johnson moved to Paris, traveled throughout Europe and was exposed to new kinds of artistic creations and artists. Upon his return to the United States, Johnson used a primitive style of painting in conjunction with what was considered a "folk" style, using of bright colors and two-dimensional figures. https://www.biography.com/artist/william-h-johnson
“My aim is to express in a natural way what I feel, what is in me, both rhythmically and spiritually, all that which in time has been saved up in my family of primitiveness and tradition, and which is now concentrated in me.”
—William H. Johnson
EXPLORE
Listing the pictures’ elements
Look at the images of Early Morning Work and Cotton Pickers.
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Identify all the colors found in the paintings.
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Identify all the shapes.
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Identify plants, animals, farm equipment, and any other objects.
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Finally, list the activities being performed in the paintings. These can include actions that change facial expressions and body posture.
Find and List them...
Early Morning Work
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Color
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Shapes
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Objects
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Activities
Cotton Pickers
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Color
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Shapes
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Objects
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Activities
CREATE
Your turn! Create an artwork (a drawing, painting, or collage) that includes two colors, two shapes, two objects, and two actions from the lists. Think about how these elements combine to tell a story!
Email a picture of your finished artwork to Mrs. Carpenter.
William H. Johnson, Early Morning Work, ca. 1940, oil on burlap, 38 ½ x 45 5/8 in. (97.8 x 115.9 cm). Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the Harmon Foundation
