American Art Collaborative

This self-portrait reflects William H. Johnson’s training at the National Academy of Design. His painting teacher, Charles Hawthorne, encouraged his students to paint with “spots of color,” using a palette knife instead of a brush (Powell, Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson, 1991). Here, patches of red, yellow, and blue pigment lift Johnson’s features out of the background and give his self-portrait the somber dignity that the National Academy fostered in its artists