New S.C. museum to feature William H. Johnson artworks

William H. Johnson (born Florence, S.C., 1901-died Central Islip, N.Y., 1970), self-portrait, graphic arts print, circa 1930-1935. Smithsonian Institution, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

William H. Johnson (born Florence, S.C., 1901-died Central Islip, N.Y., 1970), self-portrait, graphic arts print, circa 1930-1935. Smithsonian Institution, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
William H. Johnson (born Florence, S.C., 1901-died Central Islip, N.Y., 1970), self-portrait, graphic arts print, circa 1930-1935. Smithsonian Institution, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) – The new $12 million Florence County Museum is expected to open this fall with a display of works of the city’s best-known artist.

Museum director Andrew Stout tells The Morning News of Florence that the state-of-the-art museum is expected to open Oct. 9 with a three-day celebration. The museum was to open this spring but moving and construction delays moved the opening back.

The museum in downtown Florence will display hundreds of the approximately 15,000 objects in the museum’s collections.

As part of the opening celebration, the museum will display works by local artist William H. Johnson that are part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Johnson is a black artist from Florence whose work chronicled the jazz age of the 20th century.

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Information from: Morning News, http://www.scnow.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

William H. Johnson (born Florence, S.C., 1901-died Central Islip, N.Y., 1970), self-portrait, graphic arts print, circa 1930-1935. Smithsonian Institution, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
William H. Johnson (born Florence, S.C., 1901-died Central Islip, N.Y., 1970), self-portrait, graphic arts print, circa 1930-1935. Smithsonian Institution, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.