The Politician, 1954

Moses, 1950

Between 1945 and 1965, the Sargent Johnson made a number of trips to Oaxaca and Southern Mexico where he became acquainted with the Zapotec Indians and Mexicans in the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, where the famous black clay pots are made.

Johnson worked this material in his hotel room making grotesque and interesting black clay figures. A favorite theme of his for these pieces is the do-nothing politician. He produced about 100 of these pieces.