As I was flipping through the catalog for the upcoming auction of artwork from Johnson Publishing Company, I quickly noticed that most of the artists were from Chicago where the company was located.
I had never heard of many of them and I was pleased. We sometimes forget that there are plenty of good artists in local communities who never reach the height of some of the better-known artists but are worth collecting.
Johnson and his team apparently realized this when they began selecting and buying African American art for their spanking new headquarters, which opened in 1971. I salute them for sharing the space with both the well-known and the little-known.
Artworks from the Johnson collection will be auctioned Jan. 30, 2020, at Swann Auction Galleries in New York. The auction will feature 100 works from such well-known artists as Jacob Lawrence, Hale Woodruff, Richard Mayhew, Carrie Mae Weems, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Richmond Barthe. The pieces come with a powerful provenance – the Johnson collection – and many are reasonably priced (if you have a couple thousand dollars to spend).
They are being sold to pay off claims against the company, begun in 1945 with Ebony magazine and emerging as a major publishing empire that gave pride and respect to African Americans. The company hit upon troubled times and was eventually sold, along with its vast portfolio.
Some of the artworks up for auction were mentioned in a December 1973 article in Ebony magazine about the collection. The works – which included paintings, sculptures, drawing and lithographs – were in the lobby, hallways and offices of the building. Romare Bearden’s collage “Two of Them” hung in the executive dining room.
The works were listed in the article because they were the most “impressive” to the 200,000 visitors who had toured the building. At that time, the collection contained 150 paintings valued at $250,000 “and growing,” according to the article. The company also boasted that it was the largest collection of black art in the world.
Johnson’s was not the only black corporate collection. Golden State Life Insurance Co. in Los Angeles had been collecting African American art since 1949. Later, Atlanta Life Insurance Co. started its collection, in 1979. Leaders of all three were honored in 1985 by the Studio Museum of Harlem for their longtime commitment to promoting black artists.
Johnson’s desire was “that the building and the art collection combine as a really bold positive statement about the company’s commitment to the Black people it serves,” according to an article in the December 1972 issue of his publication Black World.
Employees at the company served on an art selection committee and were allowed to choose what artwork hung in their offices. The 1973 article indicated that Johnson’s selection team had direct contact with the artists before buying the works.
The company also commissioned artwork for the building, which was designed by African American architect John Moutoussamy, and held the offices of Ebony, Jet, Black Stars, Black World and Ebony Jr.
Artist Richard Hunt, which the magazine described as “one of the most talented sculptors in the nation,” created a bronze titled “Expansive Construction,” which hung on the north wall in the lobby.
Chicago sculptor Geraldine McCullough created “The Oracle,” which stood in the lobby. McCullough became internationally known after she received the George D. Widener Gold Medal for Sculpture for her piece “Phoenix.” The Ebony article states that she won the award in 1964. Other references, including Swann, say 1965. She is presented in the auction with an “Untitled” painting.
Here are other works that were on display at the Johnson headquarters in 1973 and are now up for auction. Included with each is a description from the magazine:
“Family” by Marie Johnson, “currently an art instructor in black art history at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, went west in 1952 after being awarded her B.A. from Morgan State College in her native Baltimore. Her ‘Family’ is carved from wood, then painted in oils.” She is listed as Marie Johnson Calloway in the auction catalog. The piece was on the cover of the December 1972 edition of Black World and was mentioned in a short article about the company’s art collection.
“Tender Care” by George Wilson, “a Windsor, NC, native who lives in New York City, says he started drawing at nine. Painting in the JPC collection, ‘Tender Care,’ shows a mother and her two children in a warm family relationship.” In a 2007 ad, the company was selling reproductions of “Tender Care” and some other works from its collection.
“Rufus” by Valerie J. Maynard, “a largely self-taught artist in New York who is a painter, sculptor and printmaker. Her very strong sculpture ‘Rufus’ was first carved in stone. It was later cast in Montizini plastic.”
“The Mansion on Prairie Avenue” by Irene V. Clark, “born in Washington, D.C., but matured as an artist in Chicago where she attended the Art Institute. She operated galleries in both Chicago and San Francisco (where she now lives). Her oil, ‘The Mansion on Prairie Avenue’ was painted in Chicago in 1962.”
“Pride of Eight” by Leon Lank Leonard Sr., “a Texas artist who moved to Los Angeles, works in many different media including sculpture and ceramics. His ‘Pride of Eight’ is a portrait of his mother’s family when he was just 14. The work is in acrylics and watercolor.”
“Jack Johnson” by Robin Hunter, “Mississippi born and Detroit reared, has provided one of the most admired pieces in the collection. In a painting done from an old photograph, Harper makes a poignant statement about Jack Johnson, the bitter lonely heavyweight champ.” Ebony did not give the piece a title, but Swann’s catalog titled it “Jack Johnson.” It was on the cover of the March 1978 issue of Ebony devoted to heavyweight boxing champions.
Chicago artist Ralph Arnold seems to have been a favorite of the company. Three of his paintings are in the auction, and another not in the auction was listed in the 1973 article. An “Untitled” piece in the auction hung in Johnson’s private apartment in the company’s headquarters, according to the Swann catalog.
