Activity 5 - Theme Art Comparisons

March 3, 2006


The primary theme behind William H. Johnson’s painting, “Ambulance on the Go”, is “stories and histories”. A theme is an idea or concept used as a context for which an artwork was created. “Ambulance on the Go” was created under a historical context, specifically World War II. The painting, created in 1942, shows a series of ambulances, depicting the well-known logo of “The American Red Cross”. The “American Red Cross” has a long history of providing disaster relief to Americans during times of great need. At the time Johnson created this painting, it is known that the “American Red Cross” mostly provided numerous forms of relief to our armed forces overseas. Much of this relief came in the form of mobile medical care (ambulances)(1).
It can also be argued that the painting includes a “Here and Now” theme. For some people, World War II represented a tragic and violent time in American History (1939-1945)(1). For “The American Red Cross” it represented a time of great sacrifice, since the organization relied heavily upon a large number of volunteers (7.5 million) who sacrificed their time, energy, and sometimes lives (1). Johnson’s painting depicts a trail of ambulances that most likely were operated by volunteers. These are volunteers, “On the Go”, who chose to leave behind families, careers, and dreams. For them, this was life at that time and place.

In comparison to “Ambulance on the Go”, Winslow Homer’s painting, “The Dinner Horn” would also have a “Here and Now” theme, but for a different era (ca. 1870). The painting shows the lifestyle of operating a farm. In the painting we can see what appears to be distant animals and field workers, being called to dinner by a woman blowing a horn. For many people during this timeframe, farm life was very common. It meant working from sun-up to sundown, eating a good dinner, sleeping, and then preparing to repeat the cycle the next day. Although the “Here and Now” theme can be applied to both Johnson and Homer’s paintings, “Dinner Horn” depicts a simpler and less complicated lifestyle, time and place.

Finally, in contrast to, “Ambulance on the Go”, “Dinner Horn” appears to have a more realistic scene of nature. From the various colored leaves and blowing wind, we could believe this is the natural scene of an autumn day. Such a scene, lends itself to an “Art and Nature” theme.

American Red Cross Citation:
(1) American Red Cross website
URL: http://www.redcross.org/museum/history/ww2a.asp
Date Accessed: March 3, 2007