1942 (ca.), William H. Johnson, Jitterbugs V -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: Johnson created his lively Jitterbugs series of paintings and screenprints from about 1940 to 1942 while teaching at the Works Progress Administration's Harlem Community Art Center. After long periods spent abroad, the artist returned to the United States in 1938 to record the daily lives of African Americans in a manner akin to folk art. Here, a colorfully dressed couple dances at one of Harlem's popular nightspots. Artist Romare Bearden, who knew Johnson, recalled his own experiences at the time: "Three nights a week, we were at the Savoy Ballroom. Charlie Buchanan, who ran the place, liked artists to come to the Savoy. The best dancing in the world was there, and the best music. When we left the Savoy, we'd go to the after-hours spots.... They called us the Dawn Patrol!"
1942 (ca.), William H. Johnson, Jitterbugs V -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: Johnson created his lively Jitterbugs series of paintings and screenprints from about 1940 to 1942 while teaching at the Works Progress Administration's Harlem Community Art Center. After long periods spent abroad, the artist returned to the United States in 1938 to record the daily lives of African Americans in a manner akin to folk art. Here, a colorfully dressed couple dances at one of Harlem's popular nightspots. Artist Romare Bearden, who knew Johnson, recalled his own experiences at the time: "Three nights a week, we were at the Savoy Ballroom. Charlie Buchanan, who ran the place, liked artists to come to the Savoy. The best dancing in the world was there, and the best music. When we left the Savoy, we'd go to the after-hours spots.... They called us the Dawn Patrol!"