On View: ‘Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century’ Features Works by William H. Johnson, Herbert Gentry, and Walter Williams at Nordic Museum in Seattle

On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions   WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, “Sunset, Denmark,” circa 1935-38 (oil on canvas). | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.818   A SURGE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS went to Paris in the 1920s and 30s and a second wave arrived in the post-World War II era. Black artists left the United States seeking freedoms and opportunities. The Paris narrative is familiar. Less known are the experiences of African American artists who sought out Nordic countries in the 20th century, living in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Artists working in a variety of disciplines traded the bounds of American racism and Jim Crow segregation for life in unfamiliar lands. Navigating new cultures and challenges, they pursued education, professional opportunities, love, and the freedom to explore their authentic selves in terms of their creativity and, in some cases, their sexuality. “Nordic Utopia?” at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, Wash., focuses on painters Herb Gentry, William H. Johnson, Walter Williams, and Howard Smith, a multimedia artist and designer; singers Josephine Baker and Anne Wiggins Brown; dancer and choreographer Doug Crutchfield; and jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon. The exhibition features paintings, prints, sculpture, photography, […]
The post On View: ‘Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century’ Features Works by William H. Johnson, Herbert Gentry, and Walter Williams at Nordic Museum in Seattle appeared first on Culture Type .