1944, William H. Johnson, Triple Self-Portrait -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: Johnson conceived the inventive format of this self-portrait to convey the stages of mourning following the death of his wife. Using a horizontal format more typical for landscapes, he centered an almost incorporeal personification of the spirituality through which he sought transcendence—symbolized by the white shirt—between two embodiments of his worldly self, both in colorful striped shirts. Through a "laying on" of hands, the flanking figures seem to offer the center one the nurturing support that sustained the artist on his solitary journey of emotional pain.
1944, William H. Johnson, Triple Self-Portrait -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: Johnson conceived the inventive format of this self-portrait to convey the stages of mourning following the death of his wife. Using a horizontal format more typical for landscapes, he centered an almost incorporeal personification of the spirituality through which he sought transcendence—symbolized by the white shirt—between two embodiments of his worldly self, both in colorful striped shirts. Through a "laying on" of hands, the flanking figures seem to offer the center one the nurturing support that sustained the artist on his solitary journey of emotional pain.