African-American art is a broad term describing visual art created by

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

— Americans who also identify as

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. The range of art they have created, and are continuing to create, over more than two centuries is as varied as the artists themselves. Some have drawn on cultural traditions in Africa, and other parts of the world, for inspiration. Others have found inspiration in traditional African-American

plastic art Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by Molding (process), molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramic art, ceramics. Less often the term may be used broadly for all the visual arts (such as pa ...

forms, including

basket weaving Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

quilting Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. A ...

woodcarving Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

, all of which are sometimes classified as "

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s" or "

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

". Many have also been inspired by European traditions in art, as well as personal experience of life, work and studies there. Like their western colleagues, many work in Realist,

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

and

Conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...

styles, and all the variations in between, including America's home-grown

Abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

movement, an approach to art seen in the work of

Howardena Pindell Howardena Pindell (born April 14, 1943) is an American artist, curator, and educator. She is known as a painter and mixed media artist, her work explores texture, color, structures, and the process of making art; it is often political, addressing ...

McArthur Binion McArthur Binion (born 1946) is an American artist based in Chicago, Illinois. Binion was born in Macon, Mississippi. He holds a BFA from Wayne State University (1971) in Detroit, Michigan and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield ...

and Norman Lewis, among others. Like their peers, African-American artists also work in an array of media, including painting, print-making, collage, assemblage, drawing, sculpture and more. Their themes are similarly varied, although many also address, or feel they must address, issues of American Blackness. Once known as the "sculptor of horrors",

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller ( ; born Meta Vaux Warrick; June 9, 1877 – March 18, 1968) was an African-American artist who celebrated Afrocentric themes. At the fore of the Harlem Renaissance, Warrick was known for being a poet, painter, theater ...

favored a mix of conceptual realism and

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

, and took inspiration from ghost stories. Mentored by Henry Osawa Tanner, critiqued by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

, and exhibited in the 1903

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

, she recognized that a continued career relied on "meet ngrequests for race-based work from the leading Black scholars, activists, and luminaries who controlled the commission pipeline". By accepting that reality, W. E. B. Du Bois became one of her patrons, and she became the first African-American woman recipient of a federal commission ... for progress-themed dioramas for Jamestown's tercentennial ... and, later, for the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

", but it all came at some cost. Another extreme is illustrated by an artist like

Emory Douglas Emory Douglas (born May 24, 1943) is an American graphic artist. He was a member of the Black Panther Party from 1967 until the Party disbanded in the 1980s. As a r''evolutionary artist'' and the ''Minister of Culture'' for the Black Panther Pa ...

, the former minister of culture for the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

, whose art was consciously radical, and has since become iconic. " edited with popularising the term 'pigs' for corrupt police officers", his best-known imagery was often harshly critical of the existing power structure, openly violent and, like all political iconography, intended to persuade. Sculptor

Edmonia Lewis Mary Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire" (c. July 4, 1844 – September 17, 1907), was an American sculptor, of mixed African-American and Native American ( Mississauga Ojibwe) heritage. Born free in Upstate New York, she worked for most of ...

, by contrast, financed her first trip to Europe in 1865 by selling sculptures of abolitionist

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

and

Robert Gould Shaw Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into a prominent Boston abolitionist family, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment (the 54th Mas ...

, the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

who led the enlisted black

54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the second African-American regiment, following the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. She would later incorporate issues of race more subtly, using modern themes and ancient symbols in Neoclassical sculpture to suggestive ends. In response to a bust Lewis had made of her, her patron Anna Quincey Waterston wrote admiringly of her: ″Tis fitting that a daughter of the race / Whose chains are breaking should receive a gift / So rare as genius.″ The grandchild of slaves, print artist and sculptor

Elizabeth Catlett Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) was an African American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in th ...

was also an activist. Although some of her art includes confrontational symbols from the Black Power movement, she is best-known for her portrayals of African-American heroes: MLK, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman — and strong maternal women. Sculptor Augusta Savage's work was similarly uplifting. In a large commission for the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

, ''

Lift Every Voice and Sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a hymn with lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). Written from the context of African Americans in the late 19th century, the hymn is a pray ...

'', which is often described as the Black National Anthem, inspired a called ''

'', also known as ''The Harp'' as it depicted black singers as the strings of the instrument. Richard Hunt, is a sculptor born on Chicago's South Side in 1935. A recurrent theme of his work is the integration and expression of the African American history and culture, despite his focus on his own freedom as an artist to work in an abstract mode or one referential or suggestive of his subjects. A descendant of slaves brought to this country through the port of Savannah, Georgia, Richard Hunt has singularly made the largest contribution to public art in the U.S.; more than 160 public sculpture commissions grace prominent locations in 22 states. As a 19-year-old, Richard Hunt taught himself how to weld. Only two years later, he gained national recognition when the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

acquired his sculpture, ''Arachne''. Another Richard Hunt sculpture, ''Hero Construction'', now stands as the centerpiece of

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. Richard Hunt has held over 100 solo exhibitions and is represented in more than 100 public museums. Painter

Faith Ringgold Faith Ringgold (born October 8, 1930 in Harlem, New York City) is an American painter, writer, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist, best known for her narrative quilts. Early life Faith Ringgold was born the youngest of three children ...

, who is known for her politicized art, has been described as having a "gorgeous gut punch". Her '' The American People Series #20: Die'' which depicts a bloody clash between

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

black and white figures, was hung opposite Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in the newly renovated

MOMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

in 2019, the better to start a conversation between the "savage force" of their respective compositions.

artist Fred Wilson focuses on other kinds of composition, "juxtaposing wildly anomalous items, such as a slave statue and a set of fine china". A 1999 MacArthur "genius grant" recipient, his work encourages "unpacking and upending assumptions about race and history surrounding each". Narrative artists like

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", although by his own ...

use

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

to tell a story in images, as his own Migration Series shows. The 60-panel epic depicts the relocation of a million African Americans to the industrialized North after World War II. As in the cases of

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) he returned to Nigeria, leaving Freddie to raise the couple's six children. 3/sup> Wiley has said that his family survived on welfare checks and the limited income earned by his mother's 'thrift store' – ...

and

Amy Sherald Amy Sherald (born August 30, 1973) is an American painter. She works mostly as a portraitist depicting African Americans in everyday settings. Her style is simplified realism, involving staged photographs of her subjects. Since 2012, her work ...

, history painting can also involve

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

; in this instance, the official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, respectively. Artists like Horace Pippen and

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York City a ...

chose more ordinary subject matter, relying on contemporary life to inspire uncontroversial imagery. The influential Henry Tanner did, too, in paintings like The Banjo Lesson and the Thankful Poor although those paintings — like many of his landscapes and Biblical scenes — often seem illuminated from within. The first African-American to enroll in the prestigious

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Realist painter Thomas Eakens. He went on to become the first African-American artist to earn international acclaim. He was elected to the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1910 and designated an honorary chevalier of the Order of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1923.

Early African-American art

Pre-colonial, Antebellum and Civil War eras

The earliest evidence of African-American art in the United States is the work of skilled craftsmen slaves from

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. Two categories of slave craft items survive from colonial America: articles that were created for personal use by slaves and articles created for public use. Examples from between the 17th century and the early 19th century include: small drums, quilts, wrought-iron figures, baskets, ceramic vessels, and gravestones. Many of Africa's most skilled slave artisans were hired out by slave owners. With the consent of their masters, some slave artisans were also able to keep a small percentage of the wages earned in their spare time to save enough money to purchase their freedom, and that of their family members. The public works of art produced by slave craftsmen were an important contribution to the Colonial economy. In New England and the Mid-Atlantic colonies, slaves were apprenticed as goldsmiths, cabinetmakers, engravers, carvers, portrait painters, carpenters, masons and iron workers. The construction and decoration of the Janson House, built on the Hudson River in 1712, was the work of African-Americans. Many of the oldest buildings in Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia were built by craftsmen slaves. In the mid-18th century, John Bush was a powder horn carver and soldier with the Massachusetts militia fighting with the British in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

Patrick H. Reason Patrick Henry Reason, first named Patrice Rison (March 17, 1816 – August 12, 1898), was one of the earliest African-American engravers and lithographers in the United States. He was active as an abolitionist (along with his brother Charles Lew ...

, Joshua Johnson, and Scipio Moorhead were among the earliest known portrait artists, from the period of 1773–1887. Patronage by some white families allowed for private tutoring in special cases. Many of these sponsoring whites were

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

s. The artists received more encouragement and were better able to support themselves in cities, of which there were more in the North and border states.

Harriet Powers Harriet Powers (October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was an American folk artist and quilter. Born into slavery in rural northeast Georgia, she married young and had a large family. After the American Civil War and emancipation, she and her hu ...

(1837–1910) was an African-American

folk artist Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tra ...

and

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...

maker from rural

Georgia, United States Georgia is a state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by ...

, born into slavery. Now nationally recognized for her

quilts A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ...

, she used traditional

appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...

techniques to record local legends, Bible stories and astronomical events on her quilts. Only two of her late quilts have survived: ''Bible Quilt 1886'' and ''Bible Quilt 1898''. Her quilts are considered among the finest examples of 19th-century Southern quilting. Like Powers, the women of

Gee's Bend Boykin, also known as Gee's Bend, is an African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The te ...

developed a distinctive, bold and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African-American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity. Although widely separated by geography, they have qualities reminiscent of

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...

quilts and

Modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

. The women of Gee's Bend passed their skills and aesthetic down through at least six generations to the present. At one time, scholars believed slaves sometimes used

quilt block In the textile arts, a motif (also called a block or square) is a smaller element in a much larger work. In knitting and crochet, motifs are made one at a time and joined together to create larger works such as afghan blankets or shawls. A ...

s to alert other slaves to escape plans during the time of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

, but most historians do not agree. Quilting remains alive as form of artistic expression in the African-American community.

Reconstruction

After the Civil War, it became increasingly acceptable for African American-created works to be exhibited in museums, and painters and sculptors increasingly produced works for this purpose. These were works mostly in the European Romantic and Classical traditions of landscapes and portraits.

Edward Mitchell Bannister Edward Mitchell Bannister (November 2, 1828January 9, 1901) was an oil painter of the American Barbizon school. Born in Canada, he spent his adult life in New England in the United States. There, along with his wife Christiana Carteaux Bannist ...

Henry Ossawa Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in Fren ...

and

are the most notable from this period. Others include

, a female artist who, like Edmonia Lewis, was a sculptor, as well as

Grafton Tyler Brown Grafton Tyler Brown (February 22, 1841 – March 2, 1918) was an American painter, lithographer and cartographer. Brown was the first African-American artist to create works depicting the Pacific Northwest and California. Early life and education ...

and Nelson A. Primus. The goal of widespread recognition across racial boundaries was first eased within America's big cities, including

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, New York, and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Even in these places, however, there were

discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

limitations. Abroad, however, African Americans were much better received. In Europe — especially

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

— these artists were freer to experiment with techniques outside traditional western art. Freedom of expression was much more prevalent in Paris and, to a lesser extent,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Contemporary art

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance refers to an enormous flourishing in African-American art of all kinds, including visual art. Ideas that were already widespread in other parts of the world at the time had begun to spread into U.S. artistic communities during the 1920s. Notable artists in this period included

Richmond Barthé James Richmond Barthé, also known as Richmond Barthé (January 28, 1901 – March 5, 1989) was an African Americans, African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Barthé is best known for his portrayal of black subjects. The ...

, Aaron Douglas, Lawrence Harris,

Palmer Hayden Palmer C. Hayden (January 15, 1890 – February 18, 1973) was an American painter who depicted African-American life, landscapes, seascapes, and African influences. He sketched, painted in both oils and watercolors, and was a prolific artis ...

, William H. Johnson,

Sargent Johnson Sargent Claude Johnson (October 7, 1888 – October 10, 1967) was one of the first African-American artists working in California to achieve a national reputation.

John T. Biggers John Thomas Biggers (April 13, 1924 – January 25, 2001) was an African-American muralist who came to prominence after the Harlem Renaissance and toward the end of World War II. Biggers created works critical of racial and economic injustice. He ...

, Earle Wilton Richardson, Malvin Gray Johnson,

Archibald Motley Archibald John Motley, Jr. (October 7, 1891 – January 16, 1981), was an American visual artist. He studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1910s, graduating in 1918. Motley is most famous for his colorful chroni ...

, Augusta Savage,

Hale Woodruff Hale Aspacio Woodruff (August 26, 1900 – September 6, 1980) was an American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints. Early life, family and education Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois, in on August 26, 1900. He grew up in a black ...

and photographer

James Van Der Zee James Augustus Van Der Zee (June 29, 1886 – May 15, 1983) was an American photographer best known for his portraits of black New Yorkers. He was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Aside from the artistic merits of his work, Van Der Ze ...

. William E. Harmon, an art patron and aficionado, established the

Harmon Foundation The Harmon Foundation was established in 1921 by wealthy real-estate developer and philanthropist William E. Harmon (1862–1928). A native of the Midwest, Harmon's father was an officer in the 10th Cavalry Regiment. The Foundation originally s ...

in 1922, and it served as a large-scale patron of African-American art until 1967, generating interest in, and recognition for, artists who might have otherwise remained unknown. The Harmon Award and the annual "Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists" further contributed to the support, as did the

William E. Harmon Foundation Award for Distinguished Achievement Among Negroes #REDIRECT William E. Harmon Foundation Award for Distinguished Achievement Among Negroes {{R from move ...

, which although not limited to visual artists was awarded to several of them, including

and

. In 1929, the funding temporarily ended as a result of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, only to resume mounting exhibitions and offering funding once the economy revived artists like

Laura Wheeler Waring Laura Wheeler Waring (May 16, 1887 – February 3, 1948) was an American artist and educator, best known for her paintings of prominent African Americans that she made during the Harlem Renaissance. She taught art for more than 30 years at Ch ...

and others. By 1933, the

U.S. Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

Public Works of Art Project The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admin ...

was attempting to provide support for artists in 1933, but their efforts proved ineffective. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

created the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) in 1935, and that program succeeded at providing all American artists, and especially African-American artists, with a means to earn a living in a devastated economy. By the middle of the 1930s, more than 250,000 African Americans were involved with the WPA, including

Gwendolyn Knight Gwendolyn Clarine Knight (May 26, 1913 – February 18, 2005) was an American artist who was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, in the West Indies. Knight painted throughout her life but did not start seriously exhibiting her work until the 1970s. He ...

, sculptor William Artis; painter and children's book illustrator

Ernest Crichlow Ernest Crichlow (June 19, 1914 – November 10, 2005) was an American social realist artist. Early life and career Crichlow was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1914 to Barbadian immigrants. He studied art at the School of Commercial Illustrating ...

, cartoonist and illustrator Elton C. Fax, photographer

Marvin Smith Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical ...

Dox Thrash Dox Thrash (1893–1965) was an African-American artist who was famed as a skilled draftsman, master printmaker, and painter and as the co-inventor of the Carborundum printmaking process.Donnelly, Michell"The Art of Dox Thrash" The Encyclopedia ...

, who invented the printmaking method carborundum

Mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...

, painters

Georgette Seabrooke Georgette Seabrooke (aka Georgette Seabrooke Powell; August 2, 1916 – December 27, 2011), was an American muralist, artist, illustrator, art therapist, non-profit chief executive and educator. She is best known for her 1936 mural, ''Recreation ...

and

Elba Lightfoot ''Elba Lightfoot'' (1910-1989) was an African-American artist known for her work on the Works Progress Administration (WPA) murals at Harlem Hospital. She was born in Evanston, Illinois. In 1935, together with Charles Alston, Augusta Savage (who ...

, best known for their Harlem Hospital murals; Chicago printmaker

Eldzier Cortor Eldzier Cortor (January 10, 1916 – November 26, 2015) was an African-American artist and printmaker. His work typically features elongated nude figures in intimate settings, influenced by both traditional African art and European surrealism ...

; and renowned Illinois-based artist Adrian Troy and many others. Many of these artists found themselves drawn to the interwar movement known as

Social Realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

, which reflected the politics and socioeconomic views of a generation that had been drafted into WWI, only to dance through the Roaring 1920s and crash in the Great Depression. Important cities with significant black populations and important African-American art circles included Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The WPA led to a new wave of important black art professors. Mixed media, abstract art, cubism, and social realism became not only acceptable, but desirable. Artists of the WPA united to form the 1935 Harlem Artists Guild, which developed community art facilities in major cities. Leading forms of art included drawing, sculpture, printmaking, painting, pottery, quilting, weaving and photography. In 1939, however, the costly WPA and its projects all were terminated. In 1943, James A. Porter, a professor in the Department of Art at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, wrote the first major text on African-American art and artists, ''Modern Negro Art''.

Mid-century

In the 1950s and 1960s, few African-American artists were widely known or accepted. Despite this, the Highwaymen, a loose association of 26

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

artists from

Fort Pierce Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, created idyllic, quickly realized images of the Florida landscape and peddled some 200,000 of them from the trunks of their cars. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was impossible to find galleries interested in selling artworks by a group of unknown, self-taught African Americans, so they sold their art directly to the public rather than through galleries and art agents. Rediscovered in the mid-1990s, they are recognized today as an important part of American folk history, and the current market price for an original Highwaymen painting can easily bring in thousands of dollars. In 2004, the original group of 26 were inducted into the

Florida Artists Hall of Fame Florida Artists Hall of Fame recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to art in Florida. It was established by the Florida Legislature in 1986. There is a Florida Artists Hall of Fame Wall on the Plaza Level in the rotunda of the ...

. Currently eight of the 26 are deceased, including A. Hair, H. Newton, Ellis and George Buckner, A. Moran, L. Roberts, Hezekiah Baker and, most recently, Johnny Daniels. The full list of 26 can be found in the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, as well as various highwaymen and Florida art websites. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, some artists took a global approach, working and exhibiting abroad, in Paris, and as the decade wore on, relocated gradually in other welcoming cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm:

Barbara Chase-Riboud Barbara Chase-Riboud (born June 26, 1939) is an American Visual arts, visual artist and sculptor, bestselling novelist, and award-winning poet. After becoming established as a sculptor and poet, Chase-Riboud gained widespread recognition as an ...

, Edward Clark,

Harvey Cropper Harvey Tristan Cropper (August 4, 1931 – November 15, 2012) was an American painter, born in New York City, who in the 1980s moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he died at the age of 81. Life Cropper was born on August 4, 1931, in Sugar Hill, ...

Beauford Delaney Beauford Delaney (December 30, 1901 – March 26, 1979) was an American modernist painter. He is remembered for his work with the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his later works in abstract expressionism following his mo ...

Herbert Gentry Herbert Alexander Gentry (July 17, 1919 – September 8, 2003) was an African-American Expressionist painter who lived and worked in Paris, France (1946–70; 1976–80), Copenhagen, Denmark (1958–63), in the Swedish cities of Gothenburg (196 ...

Bill Hutson Bill Hutson, also known as William R. Hutson, (September 6, 1936 – September 21, 2022) was an African-American abstract fine artist, specializing in painting and collage, active since the early 1960s.Bénézit, Emmanuel, et al. (2006). ''Dictiona ...

, Clifford Jackson,

Sam Middleton Sam Middleton (April 2, 1927 – July 19, 2015) was a mixed-media artist from New York City. He travelled all over the world with the US Merchant Marine, lived in Mexico and Sweden and eventually settled down in the Netherlands where he "was par ...

, Larry Potter, Haywood Bill Rivers,

Merton Simpson Merton Daniel Simpson (September 20, 1928 – March 9, 2013) was an American abstract expressionist painter and African and tribal art collector and dealer. Early life Merton Simpson was born in Charleston, South Carolina. Between the ages ...

, and Walter Williams. Some African-American artists did make it into important New York galleries by the 1950s and 1960s:

Horace Pippin Horace Pippin (February 22, 1888 – July 6, 1946) was a self-taught American artist who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and biblical subjects. Some of his best-known work ...

, Richard Hunt,

William T. Williams William T. Williams (born 1942) is an American painter and educator. He is known for his process-based approach to painting that engages motifs drawn from personal memory and cultural narrative to create non-referential, abstract compositions. ...

, Norman Lewis, Thomas Sills, and

Sam Gilliam Sam Gilliam ( ; November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022) was an American color field painter and lyrical abstractionist artist. Gilliam was associated with the Washington Color School, a group of Washington, D.C.-area artists that developed a form ...

were among the few who had successfully been received in a gallery setting. Richard Hunt was the first African American visual artist to serve on the National Council on the Arts, appointed by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1968. Hunt was the fourth African American on the council, after

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...

Ralph Ellison Ralph Waldo Ellison (March 1, 1913 – April 16, 1994) was an American writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel ''Invisible Man'', which won the National Book Award in 1953. He also wrote ''Shadow and Act'' (1964), a collecti ...

, and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

. In 1971, Richard Hunt was the first African American sculptor to have a major solo retrospective at the

. The

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

of the 1960s and 1970s led artists to capture and express the changing times. Galleries and community art centers developed for the purpose of displaying African-American art, and collegiate teaching positions were created by and for African-American artists. Some African-American women were also active in the

feminist art movement The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminists internationally to produce art that reflects women's lives and experiences, as well as to change the foundation for the production and perception of contemporary ar ...

in the 1970s.

made work that featured black female subjects and that addressed the conjunction of racism and sexism in the U.S., while the collective

Where We At (WWA) "Where We At" Black Women Artists, Inc. (WWA) was a collective of Black women artists affiliated with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It included artists such as Dindga McCannon, Kay Brown, Faith Ringgold, Carol Blank, Jerri Crook ...

held exhibitions exclusively featuring the artwork of African-American women. By the 1980s and 1990s, hip-hop graffiti began to predominate in urban communities. Most major cities had developed museums devoted to African-American artists. The

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

provided increasing support for these artists.

Late 20th/early 21st century

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is best ...

, a contemporary American artist, is known for her exploration of race, gender, sexuality, violence and identity in her artworks. Walker's

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

images work to bridge unfinished folklore in the Antebellum South and are reminiscent of the earlier work of

. Her nightmarish yet fantastical images incorporate a cinematic feel. In 2007, Walker was listed among ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine's "100 Most Influential People in The World, Artists and Entertainers". Textile artists are part of African-American art history. According to the 2010 Quilting in America industry survey, there are 1.6 million quilters in the United States. One historic non profit organization with several members who are quilters and fiber artists is Women of Visions, Inc. located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) is a non-profit community arts campus that offers arts education programs and contemporary art exhibitions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It also provides services and resources for artists th ...

. WOV Inc artists past and present work in a variety of mediums. Those who have shown internationally include

Renee Stout Renee Stout (born 1958) is an American sculptor and contemporary artist known for assemblage (art), assemblage artworks dealing with her personal history and African-American heritage. Born in Kansas, raised in Pittsburgh, living in Washington, D ...

and Tina Williams Brewer. Influential contemporary artists include Larry D. Alexander,

Laylah Ali Laylah Ali (born 1968Baker, Alex (2007) ''Laylah Ali: Typology''. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. p. 47. ) is a contemporary visual artist known for paintings in which ambiguous race relations are depicted with a graphic clarity and cartoo ...

Amalia Amaki Amalia K. Amaki (born Lynda Faye Peek, July 8, 1949) is an African-American artist, art history, art historian, educator, film critic and curator who recently resided in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where she was Professor of Modern and Contemporary Ar ...

, Emma Amos,

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

Dawoud Bey Dawoud Bey (born David Edward Smikle; November 25, 1953) is an American photographer and educator known for his large-scale art photography and street photography portraits, including American adolescents in relation to their community, and other ...

Camille Billops Camille Josephine Billops (August 12, 1933 – June 1, 2019) was an African-American sculptor, filmmaker, archivist, printmaker, and educator. Early life and education Billops was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents Alma Gilmore, origin ...

Mark Bradford Mark Bradford (born November 20, 1961) is an American visual artist. Born in Los Angeles, Bradford studied at the California Institute of the Arts. Recognized for his collaged painting works, which have been shown internationally, his practice al ...

, Edward Clark,

Willie Cole Willie Cole (born 1955 in Somerville, New Jersey) is a contemporary American sculptor, printer, and conceptual and visual artist. His work uses contexts of postmodern eclecticism, and combines references and appropriation from African and Afr ...

Robert Colescott Robert H. Colescott (August 26, 1925 – June 4, 2009) was an American painter. He is known for satirical genre and crowd subjects, often conveying his exuberant, comical, or bitter reflections on being African American. He studied with Fernand L ...

Louis Delsarte Louis Jessup Delsarte III (September 1, 1944 – May 2, 2020) was an African-American artist known for what has sometimes been called his "illusionistic" style. He was a painter, muralist, printmaker, and illustrator. When Delsarte was growing u ...

David Driskell David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) was an American artist, scholar and curator; recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study. In his lifetime, Driskell was cited as one of the world� ...

Leonardo Drew Leonardo Drew is a contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He creates sculptures from natural materials and through processes of Redox, oxidation, burning, and decay, Drew transforms these objects into massive sculptures that critique so ...

Mel Edwards Melvin "Mel" Edwards (born May 4, 1937) Samella S. Lewis, ''African American Art and Artists'', University of California Press, 2003, p. 210. Lisa S. Weitzman"Edwards, Melvin 1937–" encyclopedia.com. is an American contemporary artist, teacher ...

, Ricardo Francis, Charles Gaines,

Ellen Gallagher Ellen Gallagher (born December 16, 1965) is an American artist. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the permanent collections of many major museums. Her media include painting, works on paper, film and ...

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

, Jerry Harris, Joseph Holston, Richard Hunt,

Martha Jackson-Jarvis Martha Jackson Jarvis (born 1952) is an American artist known for her mixed-media installations that explore aspects of African, African American, and Native American spirituality, ecological concerns, and the role of women in preserving indigen ...

, Katie S. Mallory, M. Scott Johnson,

Rashid Johnson Rashid Johnson (born 1977) is an American artist who produces conceptual post-black art. Johnson first received critical attention in 2001 at the age of 24, when his work was included in '' Freestyle'' (2001) curated by Thelma Golden at the ...

, Joe Lewis,

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

, James Little, Edward L. Loper Sr., Alvin D. Loving,

Kerry James Marshall Kerry James Marshall (born October 17, 1955) is an American artist and professor, known for his paintings of Black figures. He previously taught painting at the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2017, Marshall ...

, Eugene J. Martin,

Richard Mayhew Richard Mayhew (born April 3, 1924) is an Afro-Native American landscape painter, illustrator, and arts educator. His abstract, brightly colored landscapes are informed by his experiences as an African American/Native American and his interest i ...

, Howard McCalebb, Charles McGill,

Thaddeus Mosley Thaddeus G. Mosley (born 1926) is a United States sculptor who works mostly in wood and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Biography A native of New Castle, Pennsylvania, Mosley enlisted in the U.S. Navy, then graduated in 1950 from the Unive ...

, Sana Musasama, Senga Nengudi, Joe Overstreet, Martin Puryear,

Adrian Piper Adrian Margaret Smith Piper (born September 20, 1948) is an American conceptual artist and Kantian philosopher. Her work addresses how and why those involved in more than one discipline may experience professional ostracism, otherness, racial ...

, Gale Fulton Ross, Alison Saar,

Betye Saar Betye Irene Saar (born July 30, 1926) is an African-American artist known for her work in the medium of assemblage. Saar is a visual storyteller and an accomplished printmaker. Saar was a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, which eng ...

, John Solomon Sandridge, Raymond Saunders,

John T. Scott John Tarrell Scott (June 30, 1940 – September 1, 2007) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, collagist, and MacArthur Fellow. The works of Scott meld abstraction with contemporary techniques infused with references to traditional Af ...

, Joyce Scott, Gary Simmons,

Lorna Simpson Lorna Simpson (born August 13, 1960) is an American photographer and multimedia artist. She came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s with artworks such as ''Guarded Conditions'' and ''Square Deal''. Simpson is most well-known for her work in c ...

Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems (born April 20, 1953) is an American artist working in text, fabric, audio, digital images and installation video, and is best known for her photography. She achieved prominence through her early 1990s photographic project ''Th ...

, Stanley Whitney,

Jack Whitten Jack Whitten (December 5, 1939 – January 20, 2018) was an American painter and sculptor. In 2016, he was awarded a National Medal of Arts. Life Whitten was born in 1939 in Bessemer, Alabama. Planning a career as an army doctor, Whitten ent ...

, Fred Wilson,

Richard Wyatt Jr. Richard Wyatt Jr. (born 1955) is a contemporary muralist best known for his public art in and around the city of Los Angeles. His murals can be found at the Watts Towers, the Capitol Records Building, White Memorial Hospital, the Ontario Airport, ...

, Richard Yarde, and Purvis Young,

Mickalene Thomas Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a contemporary African-American visual artist best known as a painter of complex works using rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel.

, Barkley Hendricks, Jeff Sonhouse, William Walker, Ellsworth Ausby,

Che Baraka Che Baraka (born 1953) is an American mixed media artist whose Conceptual art, conceptional and Abstract art, abstract paintings have been exhibited across the United States. Baraka was born in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. His work has been included ...

Emmett Wigglesworth Emmett Wigglesworth is a muralist, painter, sculptor, fabric designer, poet and Civil and political rights, civil rights activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has resided in New York since 1958. Wigglesworth is known for his abstract and col ...

, Otto Neals,

Dindga McCannon Dindga McCannon (born: July 31, 1947) is an African-American artist, fiber artist, muralist, teacher author and illustrator. She co-founded the collective Where We At, Black Women Artists in 1971. Early life and education McCannon was born a ...

, Terry Dixon (artist),

Frederick J. Brown Frederick J. Brown (February 6, 1945 – May 5, 2012) was a New York City based visual artist originally from Chicago. His style ranges from abstract expressionism to figurative. His art work was influenced by historical, religious, narrative a ...

, and many others.

Galleries

Art

Early African-American

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Edward Mitchell Bannister - Pleasant Pastures - 1983.95.66 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, Painter Edward Mitchell Bannister, ''Pleasant Pastures'', 1887. File:Grafton Tyler Brown, Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, 1887.tif, Painter Grafton Tyler Brown, ''Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park'', 1887. File:Edmonia Lewis - Old Arrow Maker.jpg, Sculptor Edmonia Lewis, ''Old Arrow Maker'', 1872. File:Henry Ossawa Tanner, American (active France) - The Annunciation - Google Art Project.jpg, Painter Henry Ossawa Tanner, ''The Annunciation'', 1898.

Harlem Renaissance

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Self-portrait by Malvin Gray Johnson, 1934, Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, Self-portrait by painter Malvin Gray Johnson, 1934. File:William H. Johnson.JPG, Photo by the painter William H. Johnson, 1931. File:Evening Attire.jpg, Photographer James Van Der Zee's photo of a woman in evening attire, 1922. File:Three Friends, by William H. Johnson.jpg, William H. Johnson's ''Three Friends'', c. 1945. File:"Getting Religion" - NARA - 559118.tif, Archibald Motley, ''Gettin' Religion'', 1948. File:Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Ethiopia Awakening.jpg, Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller's ''Ethiopia Awakening'', 1921. File:Heirlooms by Laura Wheeler 1916 New York Watercolor Club Exhibition catalog.png, Laura Wheeler's ''Heirlooms'', 1916.

Contemporary

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:The Artwork of Larry D. Alexander 005.jpg, Larry D. Alexander, ''Send in the Clown'', 2007. File:Jamaica Center Station Riders, Blue, 1991.jpg, Sam Gilliams ''Jamaica Center Station Riders, Blue'', 1991. File:AdrianPiper65AliceDownRbtHole.png, Adrian Pipers ''Alice Down the Rabbit Hole'', 1965. File:Howardeena Pindell painting "Queens, Festival".jpg, Howardeena Pindell's ''Queens, Festival'', 2007. File:Fred Wilson, A Critical Reader.jpg, MacArthur Award-winning artist Fred Wilsons book ''A Critical Reader'', 2011.

Artists

Harlem Renaissance

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Archives of American Art - Charles Alston - 2465 CROPPED.jpg, Painter, sculptor, illustrator and

muralist A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

Charles Alston in 1939. File:Archives of American Art - Henry W. Bannarn - 3156 CROPPED.jpg, Sculptor and character artist Henry W. Bannarn in 1937. File:Richmond Barth, sculpturing - NARA - 559178.jpg, Sculptor Richmond Barthé working on a clay figure, n.d. File:Romare Bearden.jpg, Artist Romare Bearden, photographed in his military uniform in 1944. File:Leslie Bolling, wood whittler at work - NARA - 559230.jpg, Sculptor Leslie Bolling carving a sculpture, n.d. File:BeaufordDelaney1952.jpg, Modernist painter Beauford Delaney in 1952. File:Aaron Douglas - NARA - 559198.tif, Painter and illustrator Aaron Douglas, n.d. File:Palmer Hayden, painting - NARA - 559179.jpg, Painter Palmer Hayden working on a landscape, n.d. File:Sargent Johnson, painting - NARA - 559180.jpg, Artist Sargent Johnson, assessing his own sculpture, n.d. File:Lois Jones, artist and teacher - NARA - 559227.jpg, Artist Loïs Mailou Jones in 1936. File:Augusta Savage, H-HNE-20-87.jpg, Sculptor Augusta Savage, photographed between 1935 and 1947. File:Hale Woodruff, artist and teacher - NARA - 559225.jpg, Painter Hale Woodruff at work on a canvas, c. 1936.

Contemporary

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:MarkBradfordPortrait4.jpg, Painter and collagist Mark Bradford in 2016. File:Cole Portrait 3.jpg, Sculptor, printer, and

conceptual Conceptual may refer to: Philosophy and Humanities *Concept *Conceptualism *Philosophical analysis (Conceptual analysis) *Theoretical definition (Conceptual definition) *Thinking about Consciousness (Conceptual dualism) *Pragmatism (Conceptual pr ...

and

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

Willie Cole in 2004. File:5 STAR STUDIO SHOT.jpg, Artist Leonardo Drew in Brooklyn studio in 2012. File:David C. Driskell.jpg, Artist, scholar and curator David C. Driskell in 2016. File:Jerry Harris 2008.jpeg, Sculptor and collagist Jerry Harris in 2008. File:JOHNSON RASHID-web-hires.jpg,

post-black artist Rashid Johnson in 2015. File:Eugene J. Martin.jpg, Painter, collagist and draftsman Eugene J. Martin in 1990. File:GaleMar20.jpg, Painter, printmaker and sculptor Gale Fulton March in 2020 File:Sana Musasama and Janet Olivia Henry for OHP.png, Artists Sana Musasama and Janet Olivia Henry in 2019. File:Howardena Pindell at Rose Art Museum.jpg, Painter and mixed media artist Howardena Pindell in 2019. File:AdrianPiper2005Berlin.png, Conceptual artist Adrian Piper in 2005. File:Faith Ringgold, April 2017-1.jpg, Painter and mixed media sculptor Faith Ringgold in 2017. File:Betye Saar.jpg, Assemblage artist Betye Saar in 2017. File:Raymond Saunders, CCAC Oakland 1995.jpg, Multimedia painter Raymond Saunders in 1995. File:LornaSimpsonApr09 cropped.jpg, Photographer and multimedia artist Lorna Simpson in 2009.

Collections of African-American art

Many American museums hold works by African-American artists, including

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 ...

Colleges and universities with important collections include

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...

and

. Other important collections of African-American art include the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art, the Paul R. Jones collections at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

and

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, the

David C. Driskell David C. Driskell (June 7, 1931 – April 1, 2020) was an American artist, scholar and curator; recognized for his work in establishing African-American Art as a distinct field of study. In his lifetime, Driskell was cited as one of the world’ ...

Art collection, the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art, the

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) b ...

, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Mott-Warsh collection.

References

Sources

, Harry Henderson, ''A History of African-American Artists. From 1792 to the Present'', New York: Pantheon Books, 1993. * Driskell, David C. (2001), ''The Other Side of Color: African American Art in the Collection of Camille O. and William H. Cosby Jr.'' Pomegranate. *Sylvester, Melvin R
''African Americans in Visual Arts: A Historical Perspective''
Long Island University. Retrieved January 23, 2005. *

External links

Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood Announces 2004 Hall of Fame InducteesBlog About African American Artists, Photographers, Galleries & Museums
*

Jake Adam York Jake Adam York (August 10, 1972December 16, 2012) was an American poet. He published three books of poetry before his death: ''Murder Ballads'', which won the 2005 Elixir Prize in Poetry; ''A Murmuration of Starlings'', which won the 2008 Colora ...

"Medicine as Memory: Radcliffe Bailey at Atlanta's High Museum of Art"
''Southern Spaces'', January 26, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:African American Art American contemporary art African-American cultural history African-American museums in the United States

Early African-American art

Pre-colonial, Antebellum and Civil War eras

Reconstruction

Contemporary art

The Harlem Renaissance

Mid-century

Late 20th/early 21st century

Galleries

Art

Early African-American

Harlem Renaissance

Contemporary

Artists

Harlem Renaissance

Contemporary

Collections of African-American art

See also

References

Sources

External links