Back to: William H. Johnson

Art and Life of William H. Johnson:
A Guide for Teachers

Video: The Life and Art of William H. Johnson

The video has been divided into two parts for classroom instruction:

Part One:

"The Life and Art of William H. Johnson" (sixteen minutes). Part One presents the absorbing story of Johnson's life and what it was like to be a black artist in the 1920s through the 1940s.

Discuss the following topics after viewing the first part of the film:

• Talk about life in the rural South for whites and blacks in the early 1900s.

• What circumstances encouraged Johnson to leave Florence, South Carolina, when he was seventeen?

• Discuss the mass migration from the rural South to the industrialized North after World War I.

• Talk about the attitude of the French towards people of color. How and why did this attitude differ in America? Did all of Europe share this attitude? What was happening in Germany?

• Learn about the Harlem Renaissance and the leaders who played key roles.

Part Two:

"Art Appreciation Lessons" (eight minutes). Part Two presents a closer look at the art of William H. Johnson, and features fifteen of Johnson's paintings. This segment can be used most effectively if viewed in a separate class period, as a follow-up lesson to Part One as well as a preparation for the study and discussion of the art reproductions in the print package.

Music and Visuals Used in the Video

The video contains historical photographs and examples of Johnson's art from his student days at the National Academy of Design to his final works. The music used in the video gives a sense of the places Johnson lived and of his travels, his family and friends, and his political ideals. Since Johnson's world included a universe of diversity, the music contained on the video ranges from European classical modernism in the music of Debussy and Carl Nielsen to the American folk music and spirituals of Blind Boy Fuller and Paul Robeson.