photo is an accessioned item at the Chappell Hill Museum
Rev. Johnnie Swearingen
Reverend Johnnie Swearingen was born on August 27, 1908, in the nearby African American community of Campground Church. Johnnie grew up dividing his time between farming and, occasionally, school. In his early twenties he made his way to the West Coast by hopping trains and taking various temporary farming and construction jobs. He ended up in San Pedro, where he worked in the shipyards, and stayed there until 1948, where he returned and settled in Brenham. In 1949, he married Murray Williams, and once again took up farming.
For many years, he divided his time between painting and cotton farming, selling his paintings from his front yard as well as from his pickup truck. He would drive into town, park where people driving along the highway that ran through town could see him and sell his paintings there. Sometimes he would even nail the paintings to the side of his truck.
Swearingen was an artist beginning early in his life and used various types of paint and materials to complete his paintings. Due to this, it is too risky to clean and therefore each painting has been left as-is. The paintings that form the Swearingen Collection at the Chappell Hill Historical Society were purchased from Swearingen by Mr. and Mrs. Don Austin of Chappell Hill. The Austin’s accumulated more than sixty pieces and after the death of Mr. Austin, his wife donated them to the Historical Society in 1990.
Swearingen painted both the physical and spiritual worlds in which he lived, making the Chappell Hill Collection a valuable historical document. Moreover, he is now widely recognized as an important Texas Folk artist, and these paintings are a vivid document of his early artistic development.
The Chappell Hill Historical Society owns the largest collection of paintings by the folk artist, Rev. Johnnie Swearingen and for the first time we will be displaying the entire collection of more than sixty (60) works plus some from local collectors for public view.
Please join us for the exhibit, curator remarks and opening reception with drinks and light food.
August 26 ,2023
3-6 pm
The Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum
9220 Poplar St.
Chappell Hill, Texas 77426
979-836-6033
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