On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, “Sunset, Denmark,” circa 1935-38 (oil on canvas). | Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.818
A SURGE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS went to Paris in the 1920s and 30s and a second wave arrived in the post-World War II era. Black artists left the United States seeking freedoms and opportunities. The Paris narrative is familiar. Less known are the experiences of African American artists who sought out Nordic countries in the 20th century, living in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
Artists working in a variety of disciplines traded the bounds of American racism and Jim Crow segregation for life in unfamiliar lands. Navigating new cultures and challenges, they pursued education, professional opportunities, love, and the freedom to explore their authentic selves in terms of their creativity and, in some cases, their sexuality.
“Nordic Utopia?” at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, Wash., focuses on painters Herb Gentry, William H. Johnson, Walter Williams, and Howard Smith, a multimedia artist and designer; singers Josephine Baker and Anne Wiggins Brown; dancer and choreographer Doug Crutchfield; and jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon.
The exhibition features paintings, prints, sculpture, photography, film, archival magazines, and documentary ephemera. Based on the research of Ethelene Whitmire, professor of African American studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, “Nordic Utopia?” is described as “the first comprehensive, pan-Scandinavian examination of this subject.” CT
“Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century” is on view at National Nordic Museum in Seattle, Wash., from March 23-July 21, 2024. Co-curated by Ethelene Whitmire, professor of African American studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Leslie Anne Anderson, chief curator of the National Nordic Museum, the exhibition travels next to the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisc., and Scandinavia House in New York, N.Y.
FIND MORE About Harlem-born artist Sam Middleton (1927-2015), who lived and worked in the Netherlands for more than half a century, on Culture Type
Installation view of “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century,” National Nordic Museum, Seattle, Wash., 2024. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
WALTER WILLIAMS, “Sunflowers,” (oil and sand on masonite board, 1975-76). | The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, S.C., 2020.12.06
Installation view of “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century,” National Nordic Museum, Seattle, Wash., 2024. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
Installation view of WALTER WILLIAMS, “Tree and Bird,” 1969 (oil on board). | Loan from the Collection of the David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park. Gift of the Sandra and Lloyd Baccus Collection. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
KIRSTEN MALONE, A bebop jazz singer. Babs Gonzales in Nyhavn in Copenhagen, 1968 (gelatin silver print, from original). | Courtesy of Kirsten Malone
Ebony Magazine, “I Gave Up My Country for Love,” November 1963. | National Nordic Museum
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Exhibition Label: In this article, singer Annie Wiggins Brown (1912-2009) describes her life in Norway with legendary ski jumper Thorleif Schjelderup (1920-2006) and their family.
Baltimore-born Anne Wiggins Brown studied at the prestigious Juilliard School after being denied entrance to the Peabody Conservatory in her hometown because of her race. She started as the original Bess in the 1935 Broadway performance of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. After World War II, she toured as Bess throughout the United States and Europe, including the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen and Stockholm. She met Schjelderup backstage after a concert in Oslo, and they married in 1948. After the marriage ended, Brown continued to live in Norway for the rest of her life. She taught at the National Theatre School of Norway in the 1960s and received the Oslo Culture Prize in 1990 for her achievements.
Installation view of “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century,” National Nordic Museum, Seattle, Wash., 2024. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
HOWARD SMITH, For Valilla Interiors, “Blue Irises,” 1978 (stretched cotton textile). | National Nordic Museum, NNM Purchase, 2023.013.001. Photo by Jim Bennett
Installation view of HERBERT GENTRY (1919-2003), “Copenhagen,” 1961 (oil on panel). | Long Term Loan/Promised Gift to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Courtesy National Nordic Museum
Installation view of HERBERT GENTRY (1919-2003), “Illumination,” 1991 (oil on canvas). | Studio Museum in Harlem, Gift of Mr. Stanley Bard. Courtesy National Nordic Museum
Ebony Magazine, “Thanks to Doug Crutchfield Fru Nilsen Can Dance Again,” April 1970. | National Nordic Museum
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Exhibition Label: Doug Crutchfield moved to Denmark in 1962 at the age of twenty-two. There, he taught at the Royal Danish Ballet School and the Copenhagen International School of Ballet in Denmark, and Lund University in Sweden. This article in Ebony magazine discusses his programs to teach movement to the elderly and to children who were differently abled.
WILLIAM H. JOHNSON, “Boats in the Harbor, Kerteminde,” circa 1930-31 (oil on burlap, 21 1/2 x 25 inches), framed. | The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, S.C., Courtesy National Nordic Museum
Installation view of “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century,” National Nordic Museum, Seattle, Wash., 2024. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
KIRSTEN MALONE, Dexter Gordon at Jazz Hus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1964 (gelatin silver print, from origional). | Courtesy Kirsten Malone
HERB GENTRY (1919-2003), Untitled, 1961 (oil on panel). | © Herbert Gentry; Courtesy the estate of the artist and RYAN LEE Gallery, New York, Courtesy National Nordic Museum
Installation view of “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century,” National Nordic Museum, Seattle, Wash., 2024. | Courtesy National Nordic Museum
BOOKSHELF
The exhibition is accompanied by “Nordic Utopia: African Americans in the 20th Century.” Forthcoming in August, the fully illustrated catalog is co-edited by Ethelene Whitmire, professor in the Department of African American studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Leslie Anne Anderson, chief curator of the National Nordic Museum. Also consider, “Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice,”,“William H. Johnson: An American Modern,” “Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson,” and “William H. Johnson: Truth Be Told.”
