AFSMK Legacy Campaign: Support the William H. Johnson Exhibition

For more than two decades AFSMK has helped build bridges between Denmark and the United States through art. Before concluding our work and mission, we invite our community to participate in one final project: supporting a landmark exhibition that embodies the very spirit of transatlantic cultural exchange that AFSMK has championed since its founding. 

This is a unique opportunity to help bring to life William H. Johnson Retrospective, a major exhibition opening at SMK in 2028 before traveling to the Munch Museum in Oslo and leading museums in the United States. The exhibition will introduce Scandinavian audiences to one of the most important artists of the Harlem Renaissance while illuminating his deep and often overlooked connections to Denmark and the Nordic region. 

American-born artist William H. Johnson lived and worked in Denmark and Norway during the 1930s with his Danish wife, textile artist Holcha Krake. During these formative years, he developed a distinctive artistic language shaped by Nordic landscapes, communities, and modernist traditions. The exhibition will explore how Johnson's work connected Scandinavian and American artistic movements, as he discovered the work of artists such as Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, and Danish Vilhelm Lundstrøm, and Olaf Rude.  

By supporting this exhibition, AFSMK's community can help secure Johnson's rightful place in Danish art history while advancing a broader understanding of modernism as a truly transatlantic story. The exhibition will feature 70–100 artworks, archival materials, photographs, offering audiences in Denmark, Norway, and the United States a fresh perspective on a remarkable artistic legacy.  

As AFSMK concludes its chapter, this final initiative represents a lasting contribution to the cultural dialogue between Denmark and America—a dialogue that has always been at the heart of our mission. 

Photo credit: William H. Johnson, Udsigt over byens røde tage mod Svanemøllen i Kerteminde, ca. 1930-1933, olie på sækkelærred, Johannes Larsen Museet