Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Malvin Gray Johnson
Summary
Malvin Gray Johnson (January 28, 1896 – October 4, 1934) was an American painter, born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Gray Johnson began painting at an early age when his sister Maggie noticed his talent and gave him drawing lessons and art supplies when he was a child. His early talent led him to win first place for his artworks in contests in his hometown's annual fairs.
His family later moved to New York City, where he studied art at the National Academy of Design with notable contemporary artists such as Francis Coates Jones. His time in school was interrupted by World War I where he served in the 184th Brigade, 94th Division in France. He rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance. He was "the youngest member of the Harlem Renaissance artists...migrated to New York with his family at an early age...where he was influenced by French Impressionism and Cubism."
Malvin "was one of the most far-reaching and versatile artists of his period. He drew upon many stylistic sources and demonstrated the disciplined learning necessary for high levels of creative expression...as he became familiar with the works of the Impressionists and the Cubists his artistic style changed." He is described as an artist "whose work reflects the complexities of the Harlem Renaissance at its pinnacle" despite spending little time with other African American artists during his time in Harlem.
His work is often labeled as Symbolic Abstractionist, being one of the first African-American artists to paint in the Cubist style. He combined early modern styles with distinctly African American subjects, themes, and concerns to create "truly African American art. Elements of his art seem also to derive from studies of African sculpture, Harlem street life, and African Spirituals. He concerned himself with technical aspects of light, composition, and form, and a desire to express the experience of the spirituals in terms of abstract symbolism. His painting style is described as a modernist-inspired with vigorous brushwork, intense areas of color, flattened and angular forms, and a lack of painterly finish.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.