Curatorial notes
William H. Johnson painted Teheran Conference, probably with oil on board, and we can see that he wasn’t afraid of simplification. Look at how the flags are rendered as basic geometric shapes, a child-like directness in capturing complex symbols. It’s a reminder that art-making is a process of reduction as well as addition. Notice how the rough texture of the board is visible through the paint, giving it an almost raw quality. The strokes are unblended, and matter-of-fact, there’s a lack of polish which has a real charm. The single sword at the bottom of the image feels particularly symbolic, a grounding of the high-minded ideas, a suggestion of what is at stake. This makes me think of Jacob Lawrence, another artist who wasn’t interested in formal niceties, but in making pictures which were both simple and powerful. This painting shows us how sometimes, less really is more.