Moon over Harlem

William H. Johnson, Moon over Harlem, ca. 1943-1944, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.577
Copied William H. Johnson, Moon over Harlem, ca. 1943-1944, oil on plywood, 28 1⁄2 x 35 3⁄4 in. (72.5 x 90.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.577

Artwork Details

Title
Moon over Harlem
Artist
Date
ca. 1943-1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
28 1⁄2 x 35 3⁄4 in. (72.5 x 90.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on plywood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Landscape — celestial — moon
  • Occupation — service — policeman
  • State of being — evil — violence
  • Cityscape — New York — Harlem
Object Number
1967.59.577
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1967.59.577

Artwork Description

Moon over Harlem commemorates the riots of 1943, when a confrontation between a white police officer, a black woman, and a black soldier resulted in a melee of fighting and burning that left several killed and hundreds wounded. William H. Johnson based the pairs of figures at the left and right margins on photographs of rioters arrested by white officers. But Johnson painted the police as black men, and the ground is strewn with empty liquor bottles, as if the artist wanted to suggest that the people of Harlem were brutalizing themselves through their own behavior.