Archive for May 15, 2015

Artist of the moment……..William Henry Johnson

{ May 15, 2015 @ 6:48 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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William Henry Johnson was an African- American painter and printmaker renown for his folk art style of painting the figure. William Henry Johnson was born in Florence, South Carolina in the year 1901.

The second image in the gallery is a self portrait done by William Henry Johnson.

As a youngster he learned to draw by copying the comic strips he saw in his local newspaper.

Johnson attended the National Academy of Design located in New York City.

The artist stopped painting in 1956. His health was poor and the artist spent much of his life in hospital from problems related to syphilis.Johnson passed away in 1970.

Price range information: Works range from $10,000 to $120,000.

In this clip a curator talks about Johnson’s painting “I baptize thee.”:

Below we view an exhibition from 2013 featuring the work of William Henry Johnson:

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Artist of the moment……..Aaron Douglas

{ May 15, 2015 @ 1:59 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Aaron Douglas was an African- American artist associated with the Harlem Renaissance who painted in a Modernist style. Aaron Douglas was born in Topeka, Kansas in the year 1899.

Douglas attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln earning a B.F.A. A year later he added a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Kansas.

A few years after earning his second degree the artist relocated to Harlem, New York.

Douglas was one of the most sought after illustrators of the leading African- American magazines. He even tried to start his own magazine that was to showcase the up and coming younger artists.

He spent part of 1931 in Paris, France studying art as a grant award recipient.

In this clip we find Aaron Douglas at the Nebraska Museum of Art:

Douglas started the art department at Fisk University located in Nashville, Tennessee.

In this clip we get a peak at Aaron Douglas at the easel. Some jazz music is played and I must pass on the sad news that American Jazz legend B.B. King passed away at the age of 89:

Aaron Douglas passed away in 1979 at the age of  79.

Price range information: Works range from $20,000 to $500,000. Douglas worked in oils, watercolors, and gouache.

Douglas was of the first African American artists to earn a degree, and surely one of the first to earn two degrees. Yet, I feel as he is under appreciated for his contributions to the art world.

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