Pair of Teacups
<p>Although Sargent Claude Johnson is best known for figural works, these teacups are a rare example of his functional objects. While he was perennially interested in exploring black identity, as in the sculpture <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/154470/head-of-a-black-woman"><em>Head of a Black Woman</em></a> (2000.86), Johnson broadened his subject matter and experimented with materials over the course of his career. Here, he used contrasting semicircles and rectangles to shape the handles of the cups and carried this focus on geometric form into abstract patterns, silhouetted figures, and musical instruments.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1941
- Medium
- Earthenware and glaze
- Dimensions
- Each; irregular: 7 × 10 × 6.9 cm (2 13/16 × 3 15/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Sargent Claude Johnson
Artist
Painting
Sargent Claude Johnson was one of the first African-American artists working in California to achieve a national reputation. He was known for Abstract Figurative and Early Modern styles. He was a painter, potter, ceramicist, printmaker, graphic artist, sculptor, and carver. He worked in a variety of media, including ceramics, clay, stone, wood, terra cotta, tiled murals, watercolor, oil on canvas, porcelain enamel on steel, and lithography. Despite having lived in San Francisco for most of his adult life, Johnson is considered one of the stellar artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Sargent Claude Johnson
- Year
- 1941
- Medium
- Earthenware and glaze
- Dimensions
- Each; irregular: 7 × 10 × 6.9 cm (2 13/16 × 3 15/16 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1941-016280
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified