Young Mother
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A young mother sits in a bright red ladder-back chair, cradling a swaddled infant in her lap. She wears a green dress patterned with bright orange and white floral motifs, contrasting against the vivid purple blanket wrapping the baby, which features stylized yellow crescent shapes. The background is divided into flat, architectural planes of sky blue and mustard yellow, while the floor consists of a bold, dark checkerboard pattern. Painted circa 1944–1945, this tender maternal scene highlights Johnson's ability to blend deep emotional resonance with strict modernist geometry. By simplifying the figures and leaning into striking, contrasting color fields, he captures the universal bond of motherhood while firmly centering the Black family in the canon of American modernism.