The Florence Museum's  African and African American collection
has been a major point of emphasis since the museum's
inception.
Artifacts of ceremonial significance, functional items, weaponry,
tools and vessels from tribal cultures make the collection
representative of the diverse aspects of African tribal life.

William H. Johnson, a Florence native, was a central figure in the
historical development of African American artistic society in the
20th century. Imbued with a modern aesthetic, Johnson's work
reflected the African American southern tradition with an
abstractionist style.  

New to the permanent collection are contemporary African
American quilts. The tradition of quilting in the African American
community can be traced back to the time of slavery, when
"freedom quilts" contained coded messages for slaves seeking
to escape bondage via the underground railroad.
The Collection > African
William H. Johnson

Born in South Carolina to a poor African-American family,
Johnson moved to New York at age seventeen. Working a
variety of jobs, he saved enough money to pay for an art
education at the prestigious National Academy of Design. His
mastery of the academy's rigorous standards gained him both
numerous awards and the respect of his teachers and fellow
students.

Johnson spent the late 1920s in France, absorbing the
lessons of modernism. As a result, his work became more
expressive and emotional. During this same period, he met
and fell in love with Danish artist Holcha Krake, whom he
married in 1930. The couple spent most of the '30s in
Scandinavia, where Johnson's interest in primitivism and folk
art began to have a noticeable impact on his work.

Returning with Holcha to the U.S. in 1938, Johnson immersed
himself in the traditions of Afro-America, producing work
characterized by its stunning, eloquent, folk art simplicity. A
Greenwich Village resident, he became a familiar, if somewhat
aloof, figure on the New York art scene. He was also a
well-established part of the African-American artistic
community at a time when most black artists were still riding
the crest of the Harlem Renaissance.
William H. Johnson
Evening
Oil on Burlap