Self-Portrait
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Object Details
- Artist
- Malvin Gray Johnson, born Greensboro, NC 1896-died New York City 1934
- Sitter
- Malvin Gray Johnson
- Exhibition Label
- The compressed space in 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 American heritage. In 1934, the year he painted his self-portrait, Johnson joined the ranks of the Public Works of Art Project, the first of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal 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.
- African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation
- 1934
- Object number
- 1967.57.30
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 38 1/4 x 30 in. (97.2 x 76.2 cm.)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- African American
- Occupation\art\painter
- Portrait male\self-portrait
- Record ID
- saam_1967.57.30
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7925771b8-9ae7-4328-a00c-caa30f051f2c
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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