HARDANGER FJORD PAINTED BY WILLIAM H. JOHNSON

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON (1901-1970) 

 Hardanger Fjord (700m - 2, 287ft)

Norway

In Mountain and sea, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, ca.1938,
Oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum

The mountain 

The Hardangerfjord, whose highest peak is 700 meters (2, 287ft) high, stretches from the Atlantic to the Hardangervidda plateau in Hordaland County, western Norway. It is the fourth fjord in the world and the second in Norway by its length. This vertiginous rock overlooks Ringedalsvatnet Lake in Odda. It is a hiking destination that attracts enthusiasts from all over the world. But this is not the only extraordinary site on the edge of the Hardangerfjord.

"Norway boasts a number of impressive rock platforms, offering panoramic views and photographs of genuine postcards. Trolltunga is one of the best, "writes Lonely Planet about one of the most spectacular rock formations in Norway.

Although nature often seems intact and difficult to access, the site offers excellent infrastructure, with well-signposted trails and hotels and cottages to spend the night. One can take a guided hike on the blue ice of the Folgefonna glacier or take one of the national tourist routes: these are carefully selected routes, located in the most spectacular parts of Norway.

Sources:

- Visit Norway 

The painter 

William Henry Johnson was an modernist African-American painter. He became a student at the National Academy of Design in New York City, working with Charles Webster Hawthorne. He later lived and worked in France, where he was exposed to modernism. After Johnson married Danish textile artist Holcha Krake, the couple lived for some time in Scandinavia. There he was influenced by the strong folk art tradition. The couple moved to the United States in 1938. Johnson eventually found work as a teacher at the Harlem Community Art Center, through the Federal Art Project. Johnson's style evolved from realism to expressionism to a powerful folk style, for which he is best known. In 1947, in Oslo (Norway) he was diagnosed as suffering from syphilis which had impaired both mental and motor function. As a U.S. citizen who was no longer considered mentally competent, he was sent back to New York by the U.S. Embassy in Oslo. An attorney was appointed by the court as his legal guardian, and his belongings were put into storage. He no longer painted after 1955.
 A substantial collection of his paintings, watercolors, and prints is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which has organized and circulated (in 1991 and 2006) major exhibitions of his works.
 An expanded version of this exhibition traveled to the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama in 2007.  The William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts was established in 2001 in honor of the 100th birthday of William Johnson. Beginning with Laylah Ali in 2002, the Foundation has awarded the William H. Johnson Prize annual to an early career African American artist.
In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in Johnson's honor, recognizing him as one of the nation's foremost African-American artists and a major figure in 20th-century American art. The stamp, the 11th in the "American Treasures" series, showcases his painting Flowers (1939–1940), which depicts brightly colored blooms on a small red table.
Source:
- Smithsonian American Art Museum