Little Girl in Orange
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A young girl sits in a dark green ladder-back chair, facing the viewer, wearing a patterned orange dress with yellow, green, and blue curved motifs and red shoes. The chair sits on an orange cushion. The background is flat lavender. The floor is a bold yellow-and-dark-blue checkerboard. The girl's hands rest on her knees, her feet dangle above the floor, and she looks out with a direct, composed expression. The patterned dress is the most detailed element in the painting — every other surface is a single flat color. Johnson's late folk-style paintings focus on Black domestic life, childhood, religious practice, and community with a dignity and directness that was radical for its time. Oil on paperboard.