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Frederick Brown, John Henry, 1979, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gerald L. Pearson, 1995.22.1, © 1979, Frederick J. Brown
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Artwork Details
- Title
- John Henry
- Artist
- Date
- 1979
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 84 x 60 1⁄8 in. (213.4 x 152.7 cm.)
- Copyright
- © 1979, Frederick J. Brown
- Credit Line
- Gift of Gerald L. Pearson
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Animal — dog
- Landscape — celestial — sun
- Animal — bird — parrot
- Portrait male — Henry, John
- African American
- Object Number
- 1995.22.1
Artwork Description
John Henry tells a story of pathos and protest that lives in the folklore and ballads of America. Countless versions exist, but all of them speak of a slave freed at the end of the Civil War who worked for the C&O Railway and possessed near superhuman strength. Brown, who grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood near the steel mills in South Chicago, blends elements of the original John Henry legend with the lives of contemporary steelworkers concerned about layoffs when the American steel industry began outsourcing jobs abroad. Like the narrator in a Greek tragedy, he has linked the story with contemporary experience.
African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012
Exhibitions
January 18, 2019–January 18, 2019
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant collections of African American art in the world. Highlights from this collection are traveling to several cities across the United States in the exhibition African American Art in the 20th Century.