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William Johnson

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Artist

The Resume

    (March 18, 1901-April 13, 1970)
    Born in Florence, South Carolina
    African American artist
    Creator of the 'consciously naive' style of painting

Why he might be annoying:

    His wife was 15 years older than him.
    He went insane from syphilis.
    On a trip home to Florence, he was arrested while painting a brothel.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He created an estimated 1500-plus paintings.
    He never knew who his father was.
    He taught himself to draw by copying comic strips.
    He moved to New York and worked his way through art school.
    Before creating his 'consciously naive' style, he excelled in the expressionist and modernist styles.
    He and his Danish wife, fearing what the Nazis would do to an inter-racial couple, had to flee Europe.
    He taught art during the Depression.
    After his wife's death from breast cancer in 1943 and suffering from advanced syphilis, he began suffering from mental illness and was hospitalized until his death, never painting again after 1956.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 70.37% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 50 Votes: 56.00% Annoying