BLACK PAINTERS from1840tothepresent
JacobLawrence.Inthelate1930s,JacobLawrencebegantopaintnarrative
seriesofkeymomentsinBlackhistory,usingsimplifiedfigurespaintedon
hardboardpanels.Themostfamousofthese,thestunning60‐paintingMigration
oftheNegroseries,depictstheBlackexperienceintheGreatMigrationofthe
1920s‐30s.Completedin1941whenhewasjust23,theMigrationSeriesmade
LawrencethemostfamousBlackpainterintheUS.OtherearlyseriesbyJacob
LawrencefeaturethelivesofToussaintL’Ouverture,FrederickDouglass,Harriet
Tubman,andJohnBrown.HislaterworksincludeaseriesonAesop’sFablesand
severalBuildersseries.In1970,Lawrencebecamethefirstpaintertowinthe
NAACP’sSpingarnMedal.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091415033159/
HCASC10TOKNOW:BLACKPAINTERS
HenryOssawaTanner.Theartistof1893’sTheBanjoLesson,Tannerwas
oneofthefirstBlackartiststobecomeinternationallyfamous.Hestudiedunder
ThomasEakinsinPhiladelphia,buthemovedtoParisin1891togetawayfrom
racism.TannerwasamongthefirstartiststodepictBlackpeopleascomplex
figuresandnotracialcaricatures,inrealistworkslikeTheBanjoLessonandThe
ThankfulPoor.AfterpaintingDanielintheLion’sDenin1895,Tannerexplored
religiousthemesinavarietyofartisticstylesinhisremainingwork.In1996,
Tanner’sSandDunesatSunset,AtlanticCitybecamethefirstpaintingbyan
AfricanAmericanintheWhiteHousepermanentcollection.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091414985122/
RomareBearden.BeardenwasoneofthegreatestAmericanmastersof
collage.BorninCharlottein1911andraisedinNewYorkCity,Beardenjoined
theHarlemArtistsGuildin1935andbecameaprolificpainter.Hewasinthe
Armyfrom1942‐45,wasaSocialServicescaseworkerfromthe1930s‐1960s,and
studiedphilosophyattheSorbonneinthe1950s.Thiswidearrayofexperience
influencedBearden’sart,whichblendedmodernartstyleslikecubismandDada
withAmericanculturaltraditions.Hismanynotableworksinclude1941’sThe
CottonPickers,1974’sEmpressoftheBlues,andthe1977BlackOdysseyseries.
Beardenwasalsoasupporteroftheartcommunity:hewasthefirstartsdirector
oftheHarlemCulturalCouncil,co‐foundedtheSpiralartgroup,designed
costumesfortheAlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater,andwrotesuchbooksas
1972’sSixBlackMastersofAmericanArt.
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Jean‐MichelBasquiat.Thoughheonlylivedtoage27,Basquiatwaspart
oftheNewYorkartsceneforadecade.BorninBrooklynin1960,Basquiat
createdgraffitiartasateenagerunderthetagSAMO,andheproducedt‐shirts,
collages,anddrawingsaswell.Atage20,hispaintingsoncanvasbecame
extremelypopularingalleries,andhehadhisfirstsoloshowat21.Basquiat
collaboratedwithAndyWarholonanumberofworksinthemid‐1980s.
Basquiat’spaintingsfeatureawildmixofimageryandsymbolismfromvarious
cultures,rangingfromGreekandAztectoAfro‐Caribbean,oftenwithtextand
diagramsscrawledonthecanvas.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784688/
LoisMailouJones.Alongtimeprofessorofdesignandwatercolorpainting
atHowardUniversity,Jonespaintedinawidevarietyofstylesfromthe1920s‐
1990s.BorninBoston,JonesoftenpaintedinFrancetobefreefromracism.
SomeinfluencesonherartincludeFrenchimpressionism,Haitianart,and
especiallyAfricanart,andshetraveledextensivelyinAfricaandtheCaribbean
toresearchlocalartandtochampionBlackartists.Amonghermanynotable
paintingsare1932’sAscentofEthiopia,1938’sLesFetiches,1954’sPeasantGirl,
Haiti,and1972’sOdetoKinshasaandUbiGirlfromTaiRegion.Jonesalso
producedcollaborativeworkslikeher30illustrationsforCarterG.Woodson’s
bookAfricanHeroesandHeroines.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784697/
HaleWoodruff.Bestknowntodayforhisvibrantmurals,HaleWoodruff
alsoplayedaninvaluableroleinthedevelopmentofartatHBCUs.In1931,
WoodrufffoundedtheartdepartmentatAtlantaUniversity,nowClarkAtlanta,
andheheldartclassesatSpelmanandMorehouse.In1938,TalladegaCollege
commissionedWoodrufftopaintaseriesofmuralscelebratingthe100th
anniversaryofthesuccessfulslaveuprisingaboardtheAmistad.Theresulting
paintingsofthemutiny,trial,andrepatriationofAmistadslavesareamongthe
greatmuralsinAmericanart.Woodruff’sotherworksincludetheArtofthe
NegromuralseriesatClarkAtlantaandtheabstractCelestialGateseriesinthe
1950s.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420449931/
KaraWalker.Walkerisbestknownforblackcut‐papersilhouettesthat
depictslaveryinanarrativetableau.Oftenthesetableauxarelarge:the1997
workSlavery!Slavery!isa360‐degreemuralthatencirclestheviewer.Someof
Walker’sworksfeaturecolorfullypaintedorprojectedbackdrops,asinthe2001
workTrilogy.AprofessoratColumbia,WalkerwonaMacArthurFoundation
“genius”grantin1997,whenshewasonly27.KaraWalker’smorerecentworks
includea2014installationatanabandonedNewYorksugarfactory,featuringa
massiveSphinx‐likesugarsculptureentitledASubtlety.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784889/
HCASC10TOKNOW:BLACKPAINTERS
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RobertS.Duncanson.In1861,theCincinnatiDailyGazettecalled
Duncanson“thebestlandscapepainterintheWest.”InfluencedbytheHudson
RiverSchoolpainters,DuncansonbeganpaintinglandscapesoftheOhioRiver
valleyinthe1840s,andhelaterpaintedlandscapesofNewEngland,Canada,
andEuropeaswell.Duncansonblendedlandscapewithliteratureinworkslike
1853’sUncleTomandLittleEva,basedonthenovelUncleTom’sCabin,and
1861’sLandoftheLotusEaters,basedonaTennysonpoem.Duncansonalsodid
portraitsofsuchnotedabolitionistsasJamesBirney,FreemanCary,andRev.
RichardRust,thefirstpresidentofWilberforceUniversity.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784822/
AlmaThomas.AlmaWoodseyThomasisbestknownforcolorfulabstract
paintings,nearlyallofwhichwerepaintedaftersheturned70!Howard
University’sfirstfineartsgraduatein1924,ThomastaughtartataDCjunior
highschoolfor35years,thenembracedanewpaintingstyleafterretiring.
DrawinginspirationfromWashingtonColorSchoolpaintersandfromherown
garden,sheusedthousandsofirregulardaubsofcolor,liketilesinamosaic,in
paintingssuchasBreezeRustlingThroughFallFlowersandSpringtimein
Washington.In1972,atage80,AlmaThomasbecamethefirstBlackfemale
artisttohaveasoloexhibitatNewYork’sWhitneyMuseumofAmericanArt,and
in2009,twoofherpaintingswerechosenfordisplayintheWhiteHouse.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784839/
FaithRinggold.FaithRinggoldisamasterofmixedmediaart,blending
paintingwithotherartformssuchassculptureandquilting.Her1960sworks,
likeTheFlagisBleeding,oftenfeaturestrongpoliticalmessagesaboutracism
andwomen’srights,andinthe1970sshebeganusingmasks,softsculptures,
andTibet‐inspiredclothframes.Ringgold’sfirststoryquiltappearedin1983:
Who’sAfraidofAuntJemima?features56panelsofpaintedhumanfigures,
quiltedfabric,andhandwrittentext.IttellsataleofJemimaasasuccessful
businesswoman,removingallcontextorsymbolismofservitude.FaithRinggold
hasalsowrittenmanychildren’sbooks,including1991’sTarBeachbasedon
oneofherstoryquilts.
Readmore:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27866091420784796/
The Honda Campus All‐Star Challenge 10 TO KNOW series is designed to promote active learning on topics that are interesting to and important for students who compete in HCASC to know. Not every person, event, discovery, or fact in the series will be used in game questions in any given season; however, over the span of a few years, all will be featured. HCASC10TOKNOW:BLACKPAINTERS
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