A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present

by Romare Bearden, Harry Henderson

A landmark work of art history: lavishly illustrated and extraordinary for its thoroughness, A History of African-American Artists -- conceived, researched, and written by the great American artist Romare Bearden with journalist Harry Henderson, who completed the work after Bearden's death in 1988 -- gives a conspectus of African-American art from the late eighteenth century to the present. It examines the lives and careers of more than fifty signal African-American artists, and the relation of their work to prevailing artistic, social, and political trends both in America and throughout the world.

Beginning with a radical reevaluation of the enigma of Joshua Johnston, a late eighteenth-century portrait painter widely assumed by historians to be one of the earliest known African-American artists, Bearden and Henderson go on to examine the careers of Robert S. Duncanson, Edward M. Bannister, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Aaron Douglas, Edmonia Lewis, Jacob Lawrence, Hale A. Woodruff, Augusta Savage, Charles H. Alston, Ellis Wilson, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Horace Pippin, Alma W. Thomas, and many others.

Illustrated with more than 420 black-and-white illustrations and 61 color reproductions -- including rediscovered classics, works no longer extant, and art never before seen in this country -- A History of African-American Artists is a stunning achievement.

Genres: Art, History

560 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 1993

About the author

From the African American community and street life of city of New York, painter and collagist Romare Howard Bearden often drew subjects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romare_...

Reviews

[Nuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book I've read in a long time - illuminating, humanistic, and honestly profound. It has opened my eyes to art history, broadening and developing my understanding of the Black proletarian imaginary!

"One of Wilson's projects portrayed Harlem history for the New York State office building there. This effort led him to an aesthetic element he first identified in the writing of [Ralph] Ellison and [James] Baldwin, the painting of Jacob Lawrence, and the later work of Romare Bearden—memory. An element that is emotional, tactile, colorful, sensuous, and tenuous in that it is fleeting, hard to grasp, yet definite in mood. 'I cannot see any special relationship that the Negro artist has now to American society except that if he were able to develop what Ellison refers to as 'memory,'' Wilson has said. 'To me, Jacob Lawrence has this in his work. Jazz and all its antecedents have 'memory'...

In his study of memory in art, Wilson has perceived a great need in American cultural life. In his view, memory concerns the past but suggests a future direction that possesses a unique combination: hopefulness arising amid the blues themes. In the development of jazz as the indigenous music of this country, a critical stage was reached when black musicians were able to overcome their isolation, meet, talk, play together, and exchange musical ideas expressive of their experience. "HEar me talkin' to ya" is how Louis Armstrong put it."

[Twinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to go back to again and again. I learned about so many Black Visual Artists and how they have championed themselves. It only goes to 1993, so there are many that aren't represented, but what a history lesson!!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It is a treasure trove of African American art history.

[Katelyn Richelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent graduation gift from my uncle and aunt!!! I think I will pick a couple artists and study their styles more. I will probably do a few paintings inspired by them, too. =)