William H. Johnson was born on March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina. He attended the National Academy of Design in New York. After he graduated he moved to Paris, and traveled through Europe and was exposed to new artistic creations. He used a primitive style of painting with what was considered a "folk" style that used bright colors and 2 dimensional pictures. He took a job as an art teacher at the Harlem Community Art Center, also creating art in spear time. He was hospitalized in Norway due to his growing mental illness, caused by syphilis. He spent the last 23 years of his life there and died on April 17, 1970.