Mom and Dad

William H. Johnson, Mom and Dad, 1944, oil on paperboard, 31 x 25 ³⁄₈ in. (78.7 x 64.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1012

Artwork Details

Title: Mom and Dad
Artist: William H. Johnson
Date: 1944
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 31 x 25 ³⁄₈ in. (78.7 x 64.5 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on paperboard
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Animal — cat
African American
Object — art object — painting
Object — furniture — chair
Object Number: 1967.59.1012
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.59.1012

Artwork Description

In Mom and Dad the light background emphasizes “Mom Alice’s” dark coloring and direct gaze and may also signal a family history that William H. Johnson hinted at in other details. The calico cat nursing a kitten and the portrait of Henry Johnson as a light-skinned man likely refer to William’s mixed racial heritage (Powell, Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson, 1991). Johnson changed his painting style in the late 1930s and began creating self-consciously “primitive” scenes of African American life. When he returned home to Florence, South Carolina, in 1944, this professional change took on a personal dimension as he attempted to reconnect with his family.