id:			170503
accession number:	2012.9.a
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2012.9.a
updated:		2023-08-24 00:57:19.213000

Jitterbugs III (recto), c. 1941. William Henry Johnson (American, 1901–1970). Hand-colored, double-sided screenprint; sheet: 40.6 x 27.9 cm (16 x 11 in.); image: 34.7 x 25.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2012.9.a

title:				Jitterbugs III (recto)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1941
creation date earliest:		1936
creation date latest:		1946
current location:		
creditline:			The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	hand-colored, double-sided screenprint
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Screenprint
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* William Henry Johnson (American, 1901–1970)  - artist

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measurements: Sheet: 40.6 x 27.9 cm (16 x 11 in.); Image: 34.7 x 25.5 cm (13 11/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:

	description:	paperboard/thin cardboard
	watermarks:	

inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		William H. Johnson 
	opening date:   2012-10-03T00:00:00
	<i>William H. Johnson </i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 3, 2012-January 27, 2013).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* The Cleveland Museum of Art (10/03/2012 - 01/27/2013); "William H. Johnson"

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PROVENANCE

	Jacqueline Leavitt, Los Angeles until about 1970-72; Aimée Brown Price and Monroe Price, Los Angeles and New York City; [Joseph Goddu Fine Arts]
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:
African American artist William H. Johnson’s screenprint presents dancers enjoying the jitterbug, a dance craze that came out of Harlem, a predominantly African American neighborhood of Manhattan, just before World War II. The smartly dressed couple dances enthusiastically at one of Harlem’s popular nightclubs—perhaps the famous Savoy Ballroom—while hints of live music appear in the form of two trumpet bells and piano keys. The sharp angles and kinetic stripes of the floor emphasize the dancers’ fast pace. At the time, screenprinting was used as a commercial printing method and rarely for fine art. Johnson’s technique, which he taught at the Harlem Community Art Center, includes the flat tonal areas typical of the medium.

wall description:
African American artist William H. Johnson’s screenprint presents dancers enjoying the jitterbug, a dance craze that came out of Harlem, a predominantly African American neighborhood of Manhattan, just before World War II. The smartly dressed couple dances enthusiastically at one of Harlem’s popular nightclubs—perhaps the famous Savoy Ballroom—while hints of live music appear in the form of two trumpet bells and piano keys. The sharp angles and kinetic stripes of the floor emphasize the dancers’ fast pace. At the time, screenprinting was used as a commercial printing method and rarely for fine art. Johnson’s technique, which he taught at the Harlem Community Art Center, includes the flat tonal areas typical of the medium.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine.</em> Vol. 53 no. 02, March/April 2013
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 10 & 12; Reproduced: p. 12
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-02/page/n11

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IMAGES