Gus Nall (1919 – 1995) was an American painter during the mid-20th century in Chicago,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Born in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Nall’s most known work is his painting "Lincoln Speaks to Freedmen on the Steps of the Capital at Richmond" (1963), which was commissioned by the state of Illinois in honor of the 100th anniversary 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 ...

Life

Gus Nall was an African-American painter born in Chicago, Illinois in 1919. He was married to Thelma Nall at the age of twenty-one. Nall was a notable artist during the 1950s and 60s, known for his modernist representation of African Americans. He studied at 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 ...

and as well as in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. During his life, he was featured in '' Art Gallery Magazine'' (1968, "The Afro-American Issue”) as well as Carol Myers' Black Power in the Arts.

Work

Nall’s work consisted of elongated human figures influenced by

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 ...

and

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

styles of painting, and African art. His art most often portrays representations of African Americans. He was influenced by

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 ...

and

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 ...

, who were fellow artists from Chicago. Nall’s work allowed him to become a role model to fellow painters as well as those interested in his life as an artist. Nall had an inspiring effect on the life of fellow artist and writer

Clarence Major Clarence Major (born December 31, 1936) is an American poet, painter, and novelist; winner of the 2015 "Lifetime Achievement Award in the Fine Arts", presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. He was awarded the 2016 PEN Oakland/Reg ...

who looked up to him. His painting "Lincoln Speaks to Freedmen on the Steps of the Capital at Richmond" (1963) is on permanent exhibit in the

DuSable Museum of African American History The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art. It was founded i ...

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nall, Gus 1919 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century African-American painters