S.C.State Museum gifted a painting by William Henry Johnson

Saturday, 15 September 2007 09:42

Columbia, SC - The S.C.State Museum has acquired a rare painting by one of the most important African-American painters in American history.

An anonymous donor has given the Museum an oil-on-cotton fabric painting by William Henry Johnson, a native of Florence, whose simplified, almost flat-color style depicted the everyday lives of blacks in the 1930s and 40s, among other topics.

“We are thrilled, needless to say, at this very generous donation,” said Curator of Art Paul Matheny. “It was hard for me to believe that this significant a gift could eventually result from one phone call, which it did.”

The untitled artwork, which is thought to have been created around 1928 when the artist was in Cagnes sur Mer, France, is a landscape depicting the French countryside, with houses, roads and figures typical of the artist from this period, said Matheny.

“Johnson is among the most important figures in 20th century art, and because he was from South Carolina, it is important that we have work from this artist in the Museum’s collection. His paintings are difficult to locate and highly sought after.”

The donor was familiar with the Museum’s holdings and knew that this painting would fill a gap in the collection, said the curator. The Museum hosted a major retrospective of his work in 1995, but had no Johnson work prior to this donation.

The gift also included a snapshot of the artist in his studio in Europe with a note from Johnson on the back. The donated painting can be seen with other famous Johnson paintings in the photo. “

I was nearly in shock until I visited the donor’s house and saw it for myself,” said Matheny. “An unsolicited donation of this type and magnitude is an extremely rare occurrence, and we are deeply grateful to the donor.”

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