#malvingrayjohnson

[whileiamdying]

#SelfPortrait #MalvinGrayJohnson Malvin Gray Johnson was active during the heyday of the #HarlemRenaissance of the 1930s. The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of #AfricanAmerican #music, #dance, #art, #fashion, #literature, #theater, #politics, and scholarship centered in #Harlem (in #NewYorkCity). Johnson simplified the #forms of his #subjects and occasionally emphasized his African past by including #African #imagery in his paintings. The compressed space in his Self Portrait speaks to Johnson’s profound awareness of #modernist compositional devices. The easel at the left side of the canvas identifies him as an #artist, and the #masks in the background make an assertive statement about his African #heritage. In 1934, the year he painted his self-portrait, Johnson joined the ranks of the #PublicWorksOfArtProject, the first of President #FranklinRoosevelt’s #NewDeal art programs, which paid artists a monthly stipend. Although the job lasted only six months, Johnson was finally able to paint full time. Ironically, the year proved to be Johnson’s most prolific but also the last of his short #life. #DailyArt (at United States) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5PF4wvK0W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=