Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson

Washington, DC / New York: National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution / Rizzoli, 1991. Paperback. VG (Wraps are mildly edgeworn, smudged and scuffed; textblock edges are mildly edgeworn, scuffed and smudged; interior is clean; binding is solid.). Blue and color illustrated dustjacket over similarly designed paper-covered boards. xxiii, 255 pp., richly illsutrated color and b&w. Published to accompany an exhibition held in Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, Sept. 13, 1991 to Mar. 1, 1992. This distinctive volume focuses on the memorable paintings of noted African American modernist William Henry Johnson. Born and raised in a segregated South Carolina town, Johnson (1901-1970) became an expatriate experimental painter in Paris, then Scandinavia. As an African American working in Europe, he drew on primitivism and his travels in North Africa, exploring styles ranging from Northern European expressionism to boldly colorful narratives. Returning to New York in 1938 with his Danish wife, Johnson captured the edginess of city life in bluesy, nervous paintings. Johnson was ultimately struck with a debilitating mental illness that confined him to a state hospital for the rest of his life, virtually removing his work from the American Art scene. This book resurrects the story of one of America's most original artist.