Johnson, Sargent

Johnson, Sargent, 1888–1967, American sculptor, b. Boston. He moved to N California at age 18 and studied stulpture there. A member of California's New Negro Movement, Johnson was influenced by West African and Egyptian art, and his work often has an art deco look. During the Great Depression, Johnson did many works for the Federal Art Project, often large friezes filled with the simplified, rounded forms of people and animals. His Forever Free (1935) is in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Art, and one of his large redwood panels is owned by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. Johnson's later work tended to be more stylized and abstract.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: American and Canadian Art: Biographies