Nat Turner 1945

William H. Johnson made this painting, Nat Turner, with what looks like oil on some kind of board; the marks are laid down so plainly, so directly. I love the purple ground, punctuated with rows and rows of crosses in simple white marks, a bit like a handmade textile. The figure of Turner in his suit stands out, almost starkly, and the pink tree with yellow vines is also so graphic. It's a hard, uncompromising composition, but the brushstrokes give it a rhythm. You can feel how the paint was applied, unblended and straightforward. The emotion is carried in the rawness, the vulnerability, of that directness. It reminds me a little of Bob Thompson, another painter who wrestled with history in his own way, using expressionistic color. Johnson’s work shows us that art doesn't have to be polished to be profound.