Cagnes-sur-Mer

Johnson, an African-American artist working in Paris, saw Lithuanian-born painter Chaim Soutine’s first major exhibition in 1927. He was immediately drawn to Soutine’s wild, gestural expressionist work and began to absorb his style. Johnson made this contorted street scene in Cagnes-sur-Mer, an artists’ colony on the French Riviera where Soutine had worked for several years. Studying Soutine’s style helped Johnson release his own emotional reactions to his surroundings. He wrote, “I am not afraid to exaggerate a contour, a form, or anything that gives more character and movement to the canvas.”