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William Henry Johnson (March 18, 1901–January 1, 1970) was an African-American painter born in Florence, South Carolina. He became a student at the National Academy of Design in New York. His style evolved from realism to expressionism to a powerful folk style for which he is best known. ==Career== Johnson was born March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina, to Henry Johnson and Alice Smoot.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.biography.com/people/william-h-johnson-21283799#synopsis )〕 He attended the first public school in Florence, the all-black Wilson School on Athens Street. One of his teachers, Louise Fordham Holmes, included art in her curriculum. Johnson also copied the comic strips in the newspapers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.florencemuseum.org/william-h-johnson/william-h-johnson-biography-p2/ )〕 He moved from Florence, South Carolina, to New York City at the age of 17. Working a variety of jobs, he saved enough money to pay for classes at the prestigious National Academy of Design. He worked with the painter Charles Webster Hawthorne, who raised funds that allowed Johnson to go abroad to study.〔 He spent the late 1920s in France, where he learned about modernism. During this time, he met the Danish textile artist Holcha Krake in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Upon his return to the United States in 1929, Johnson was encouraged by artist-friend, George Luks to enter his work for recognition into the Harmon Foundation Distinguished Achievements Among Negroes in the Fine Arts Field. Johnson was awarded the Harmon gold medal in the fine arts field in January 1930.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.florencemuseum.org/william-h-johnson/william-h-johnson-biography-p3/ )〕 Johnson also visited his family in Florence, where he painted a considerable number of new works, one of which, ''Jacobia Hotel'', almost got him arrested.〔 During this visit, Johnson was able to publicly exhibit his paintings twice. The first occasion was at a meeting of the Florence County Teachers Institute on February 22, 1930. Alice Johnson worked at the local Y.M.C.A., and her boss, Bill Covington, also arranged for Johnson to have a brief exhibition of 135 of his paintings there, on April 15, 1930.〔 Later that same year, Johnson returned to Europe where he married Holcha Krake.〔 Johnson and his wife spent most of the 1930s in Scandinavia, where his interest in folk art influenced his painting. They returned to the United States in 1938, as Nazi sentiments increased in Germany and Europe.〔 The inter-racial couple were to experience prejudice in the United States as well. Johnson taught at the Harlem Community Art Center〔 and immersed himself in African-American culture and traditions, producing paintings that were characterized by their folk art simplicity. In 1941, Johnson held a solo exhibition at Alma Reed Galleries.〔 However, although he enjoyed a degree of success as an artist during the 1940s and 1950s, he was never able to achieve financial stability. In 1942 a fire destroyed his studio, his artwork and his supplies.〔 In 1944 his wife Holcha died from breast cancer. To deal with his grief, he took work in a Navy Yard, and in 1946 left for Denmark to be with his wife's family. Johnson soon fell ill himself, from the effects of advanced syphilis. He returned to New York in 1947 to enter the Central Islip State Hospital on Long Island, where he was treated for syphilis-induced paresis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://blackartblog.blackartdepot.com/black-art-news/the-art-and-life-of-william-johnson.html )〕 He spent the last twenty-three years of his life there.〔 He stopped painting in 1956〔(【引用サイトリンク】 William Henry Johnson (1901 - 1970) )〕 and died on January 1, 1970. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Johnson (artist)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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