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Lot description
William H. Johnson 1901-1970 untitled, Bonfire Evening, Self-portrait with Wife c. 1938-1946 oil on masonite 18 x 23-1/2 inches signed; marked with estate stamp: Tilhorer Niels Lindberg. Nr.Broby. Fyn. ( From the collection of Niels Lindberg. Nr. Broby. Funen. Included is an old label with its Danish title: Aftenbaal. Selvportret med hustru (Self-portrait with Wife), artist name: William Johnson ( Amerikansk maler/ American artist) and its dimensions. Provenance: the estate of Niels Lindberg, to a private collection, Copenhagen, Denmark. Niels Lindberg ( 1886-1974) Danish Painter, collector, chairman of the Association of Funen Artists in Odense from 1928-1933 and co-founder of the art exhibition building "Filosoffen" built in Odense 1933. By accounts, Niels Lindberg was very sympathetic to the struggles that emerging artists had and was known for his large private library of art books which was open to the public. Niels Lindberg was also the owner of a paint supplies store from 1912-1945. An old inventory list from the Lindberg estate shows he owned 20 Johnson prints and sketches as well as at least 2 oil paintings. Both Johnson and his wife, Holcha Krake, exhibited at Filosoffen in 1938. In this untitled work, Johnson has depicted himself and Holcha in the foreground. Holcha is the only figure out of nine in the painting with obviously light-colored skin, leading one to question if this work was executed in the United States (1938-1945) or in 1946, after he returned to Denmark from the U.S., and is a memorial to his wife (Holcha died in 1944 from cancer). The other curious figure in the painting is located center-right, wearing a yellow straw hat. Could this be a symbolic representation of one of his favorite painters, Vincent Van Gogh? Either way, the work is very emotionally-charged, and highly personal. This work, simply titled, Portrait of a Man" in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is very possibly a portrait of Niels Lindberg: http://browse.americanartcollaborative.org/object/saam/1967.59.780.html