Letters from Grace Mott Johnson to Alfred Dasburg, 1914-1919

Sculptor Grace Mott Johnson (1882-1967) was born in New York City, but moved with her family to a farm in Yonkers in 1900. There, Johnson began sketching farm animals, an interest that precluded her career as sculptor of animals. She studied sculpture at age 22 under Gutzon Borglum and James Earle Fraser at the Art Students League. Johnson sculpted animals from memory, and often took inspiration from observing animals at circuses and farms. In 1900, Grace Mott Johnson married painter Andrew Dasburg painter. Johnson and Dasburg joined a group of modernist artists living in Paris that year, but Johnson returned to the United States the year after, and the couple lived apart for most of their marriage. They separated in 1917 and divorced in 1922. Grace Mott Johnson lived on the Johnson family farm in the 1920s, and became a civil rights activist in the 1930s. Help transcribe letters from Grace Mott Johnson to her son, Alfred Dasburg from 1914-1919. Johnson writes about her travels, describing scenery and animals she encounters on her adventures and including illustrations. She also writes about activities at home on the Johnson family farm. Read more of Johnson's letters to her son, Alfred Dasburg, through the fully digitized Andrew Dasburg and Grace Mott Johnson papers, 1833-1980 on the Archives of American Art website.