Orange sails and clouds are set against a wildly actice but oppressively dark sea and sky. At close range, the village buildings on the right bank are barely distinguishable from the boats on the water, while the exaggerated curvature of the horizon helps to separate the restless warer from an equally unsettled sky. William H. Johnson's agitated, expressionistic strokes show he was experimenting with a losse and vigorous treatment similar to that of his artistic mentor Chaim Soutine (1894-1943). Kerteminde is a small fishing village in Denmark where Johnson, a Black American, settled after marrying Holcha Krake (1885-1944), a white Danish textile artist. The town welcomed the interracial couple, and Johnson became very fond of the region and its people, choosing to depict elements of his life there.