Snapshots of the Past

Jitterbugs II / W.H. Johnson. – Vintage Wall Art

Jitterbugs II / W.H. Johnson., [1939 or 1940] — historic print
Jitterbugs II / W.H. Johnson., [1939 or 1940]. Historic print from the Music & Dance collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: Jitterbugs II / W.H. Johnson., preserved in this historic print. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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Jitterbugs II / W.H. Johnson.

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*Jitterbugs II* belongs to a series in which William H. Johnson turned the energy of swing-era dancing into flat, bold shapes of color. The jitterbug, a fast, acrobatic partner dance that spread through American cities in the late 1930s, tied Johnson's work to the nightlife and popular music of the period. He made this silkscreen around 1939 or 1940, after returning to the United States from years in Europe, and he often combined simplified figures with the folk-art influences he had absorbed in Scandinavia. The Harmon Foundation, which promoted African American artists, is among the sources that preserved records of the work.

Created / published[1939 or 1940]
Medium1 print : silkscreen, color.
GenreScreen prints Color 1930-1940.
NotesNo. FO-304 (18). Similar image titled Jitterbugs No. 2 and dated 1939-1940. Illustrated in William H. Johnson, 1901-1970 / by Adelyn D. Breeskin. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971, p. 144. From Harmon Foundation Inc., Records. Unprocessed in PR 13 CN 1971:154
SubjectsDance--1930-1940. African Americans--Dance--1930-1940.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,683 × 2,143 px · prints to 6 × 7 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-215929

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