William Henry Johnson

Johson was an American painter, best known for the spare, simplified style he used in his paintings of African American subjects. Johnson was born in Florence, South Carolina, and was introduced to art through cartoons in his hometown newspaper. The oldest of five children, Johnson received encouragement from an artistically inclined teacher at the high school he attended. Johnson’s best known work, Going to Church , illustrates the subjects and style he chose for what he termed “painting my people.”

Johnsons famed work embodied the way of rural southern African Americans who moved North looking for opportunities for better work such as this painting. He represents the era well by painting the issues and problems African Americans suffered during the time.