Holcha Krake (1885-1944) was a Danish born textile artist and the wife of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

artist William H. Johnson.

Biography

Krake was born on April 6, 1885, in Karlby Sogn, Denmark. Krake studied in textile design in Sweden, Norway. and Denmark. In 1929 she met the artist William H. Johnson (1901-1970) when both were in France. They were married in Denmark in 1930 and resided in Norway for a time before settling in New York in 1938. Johnson often used Krake as a subject. Krake died of breast cancer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on January 13, 1944. Her work is in the collection of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. In 2019 the Florence County Museum in Florence, South Carolina held an exhibition of the couple's work called ''Willie and Holcha''.

Gallery

Holcha Krake - Fish Design for a Ceramic Plate.jpg, ''Fish Design for a Ceramic Plate'' by Holcha Krake Holcha Krake, by William H. Johnson.jpg, ''Holcha Krake'', by William H. Johnson, hand colored woodcut on paper

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krake, Holcha 1885 births 1944 deaths 19th-century Danish women artists 20th-century Danish women artists 20th-century Danish artists Deaths from breast cancer Women textile artists