William Henry Johnson was born on March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina. He realized he wanted to be a artist at a young age but pushed his desires of becoming an artist because it was unrealistic. Once deciding to pursue his dreams to become an artist, he left South Carolina in 1918 going to New York to attend the National Academy of Design. Here he met his mentor, Charles Webster Hawthorne. After graduating in 1926, Charles sent Johnson to Paris, France. Johnson traveled throughout Europe and saw new kinds of artistic creations and artist. After being in Paris for several years, Johnson came back to the US in 1930. He ended moving back to Europe and marrying Holcha Krake. They ended moving back to New York in 1938 because of World War 2 and growing Nazism. Johnson began using a primitive style of painting in conjunction with what was considered a "folk" style, using bright colors and two dimensional figures. In 1944, his wife passed away due to breast cancer. After this Johnson became to become unstable mentally and physically. He ended up spending the next 23 years of his life in a mental hospital in Central Islip, New York. William Johnson died in the hospital in 1970.
Below are just a few of William H. Johnson's famous works.