Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues singers

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer, songwriter and musician. 

 

His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians.

 

Very little was known about Robert Johnson and two confirmed images of him were located in 1973, in the possession of his half-sister Carrie Thompson, but were not widely published until the late 1980s. 

 

A third photo, showing Robert Johnson posing with the blues musician Johnny Shines, was unearthed by a New York guitar shop employee called Zeke Schein and was debuted in the November 2008 issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

 

In 2020, a fourth photograph was revealed by Robert Johnson's stepsister, in an intimate memoir sharing long lost details about his family, music, influences, tragic death, and musical afterlife.

 

My artwork featuring Robert Johnson attempts to subconsciously reveal facial perspectives derived from the four photographs.