Café

William H. Johnson, Café, ca. 1939-1940, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.669
Copied William H. Johnson, Café, ca. 1939-1940, oil on paperboard, 36 1⁄2 x 28 3⁄8 in. (92.7 x 72.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.669

Artwork Details

Title
Café
Artist
Date
ca. 1939-1940
Location
Dimensions
36 1⁄2 x 28 3⁄8 in. (92.7 x 72.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Recreation — courting
  • African American
  • Dress — accessory — hat
  • Recreation — leisure — eating and drinking
  • Object — foodstuff — wine
Object Number
1967.59.669
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.59.669

Artwork Description

Johnson spent decades traveling the world, searching for the authentic spirit of ordinary people from different cultures. In the late 1930s, he found what he was looking for in his own African American community. The strong colors and silhouettes in this painting evoke the African art that Black artists and writers had embraced during the Harlem Renaissance. But this affectionate couple also had the fashionable flash of zoot-suiters in the big band era. Above the table, the two figures coolly take in the café scene; below, a tangle of legs and limbs hints at the erotic energy of a night on the town.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Publication Label

African American Art is a rich part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, which is the largest and one of the finest in the United States. The museum began acquiring work by African American artists in the 1960s, some in depth — such as Henry Ossawa Tanner, William H. Johnson, and Alma Thomas. Many of the social, political, and cultural movements that came to define the twentieth century in America and captured the imagination of artists — such as the Jazz Age, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights movement — were rooted in African American communities.

William H. Johnson traveled the world, seeking the authentic spirit of ordinary people from different cultures. In the late 1930s, he found what he was looking for in his own African American community. The strong colors and silhouettes in Café evoke the African art that black artists and writers embraced during the Harlem Renaissance. But this affectionate couple also has the fashionable flash of zoot-suiters in the big band era. Above the table, the two figures coolly take in the café scene; below, a tangle of legs and limbs hints at the erotic energy of a night on the town.

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.