Sargent Claude Johnson (American, 1888–1967). Untitled (Standing Woman), ca. 1933–1935. Terracotta, paint, surface coating, Overall: 14 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/2 in. (36.2 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Steinhauer, by exchange, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 2010.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2010.2_front_PS6.jpg)
Sargent Claude Johnson (American, 1888–1967). Untitled (Standing Woman), ca. 1933–1935. Terracotta, paint, surface coating, Overall: 14 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/2 in. (36.2 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Steinhauer, by exchange, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 2010.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2010.2_threequarter_PS6.jpg)
Untitled (Standing Woman)
Sargent Claude Johnson
American Art
On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Witness
This terracotta figure of a woman was created by the San Francisco–based artist Sargent Claude Johnson in the 1930s, as Black artists derived inspiration from the New Negro Movement and its leader Alain Locke, whose encouragement of art that celebrated contemporary Black life and African ancestral traditions led Johnson to refer to African sculpture in the mask-like form of the face seen here. Employing a modernist reduction of form in the simplified, cylindrical body, Johnson created work that exudes a quiet gravity and power, within a practice he could only pursue outside his various jobs until he received W.P.A. Federal Art Project commissions in 1937 and 1938.
MEDIUM
Terracotta, paint, surface coating
DATES
ca. 1933–1935
DIMENSIONS
Overall: 14 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/2 in. (36.2 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
2010.2
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Steinhauer, by exchange, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Mary Smith Dorward Fund
PROVENANCE
Ca. 1960, gift of the artist to Arthur W. Hanna of San Francisco, CA; before 2010, acquired from Arthur W. Hanna by Swann Galleries, New York, NY; 2010, purchased at Swann Galleries "African-American Fine Art" by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Witness
CAPTION
Sargent Claude Johnson (American, 1888–1967). Untitled (Standing Woman), ca. 1933–1935. Terracotta, paint, surface coating, Overall: 14 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/2 in. (36.2 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Emil Fuchs and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Steinhauer, by exchange, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, and Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 2010.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2010.2_front_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE
front, 2010.2_front_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Orphaned work
After diligent research, the Museum is unable to locate contact information for the artist or artist's estate, or there are no known living heirs.
Copyright for this work may be controlled by the artist, the artist's estate, or other rights holders. A more detailed analysis of its rights history may, however, place it in the public domain.
The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act.
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
