November 4, 2009 African American Art

Today’s Information On African American History

Ever since it was discovered that Africa was the birthplace of the human race, people have been intrigued with the art of Africans. After several invasions by other countries, private collectors, museums, art galleries, religious groups, and wealthy individuals have held holdings of art from Africa.

When African Americans were developed in America primarily from forcing men and women from various tribes to produce children, as well as forcing slave women to produce children from masters, art has been a product for this group. At first, some “professional” art critics didn’t think much of the art either out of Africa, or art developed by African Americans. However, as collectors began to see the value of the African- and African American-inspired art, art critics from around the world have lauded the distinct art forms from this group of people.

The B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at the Long Island University has developed a list of seventy-one Internet sites concerning Black, African, and African American Art. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has one of the largest groups of this art housed in their collections in the New York Public Library System.

Lest one thinks that this type of art is just drawings, some face masks, a few paintings, and some illustrations, Schomburg Center has art and artifacts “by and about peoples of African heritage throughout the world…collected from the seventeenth century to the present with emphasis on the visual arts of the twentieth century in the United States and Africa.

The Division collects art and artifacts encompassing four broad areas: traditional African art; painting and sculpture; works on paper (i.e. drawings, prints, illustrations, posters and reproductions); and textiles and artifacts.” When one visits Schomburg Center, they will discover these items of art: “Traditional masks…bronze adornment…statuary [items]… instruments…utilitarian objects and weaponry…painting and sculpture…subjects include landscapes, portraiture and religion…abstract works…posters and reproductions… documenting political, social and cultural activities and events…lithographs and engravings…[and] Original fine art prints and drawings…two- and three-dimensional objects such as slave shackles, medallions, commemorative coins, currencies and stamps and buttons…Textile holdings include quilts, uniforms, African women's fashion, strip weaving, tie-dyed and commemorative cloth and appliques.”

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. may actually have the largest assortment of Black, African, and African Art with major works from Paul and Ruth Tishman. The Tishmans have built “one of the great private collections of African art. Buying primarily from dealers and auctions in New York, Paris and London…Since the mid-1960s, the collection has greatly influenced the study of African art. Through exhibitions and publications, it has helped define African art and set aesthetic standards of quality.”

Other Smithsonian Institution black art collections include information on 65 African Americans and artists who influenced African American art and left art biographies. This list includes: Jacob Lawrence, John Biggers, Palmer Hayden, Romare Bearden, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James A. Porter, Allan Rohan Crite, Loïs Mailou Jones, Edmonia Lewis, Sargent Johnson, Joshua Johnson, Robert Turner, William H. Johnson, Richard Hunt, Robert S. Duncanson, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Renée Stout, Joseph E. Yoakum, Frank Jones, Sam Gilliam, William Edmondson, Elizabeth Catlett, Richmond Barthé, Frank E. Cummings III, Henry P. Moore, John Scott, Lorenzo Scott, Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Leroy Almon, Sr., Hale Woodruff, Laura Wheeler Waring, Bob Thompson, Helene Sardeau, Richard Mayhew, Norman Lewis, Felrath Hines, Robert Gwathmey, Claude Clark, George N. Barnard, Keith Morrison, Augusta Savage, Jacob Lawrence, Melvin Edwards, James VanDerZee, Bob Blackburn, Alma Thomas, Sister Gertrude Morgan, James Hampton, Charlie ("Cedar Creek Charlie") Fields, John Ferren, and Beauford Delaney. Missing from the list are black artists like William Edouard Scott, Rev. G. W. Hobbs, Julien Hudson, William Simpson, Eugene Warbourg, Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, James Parks, Floyd Coleman, Lloyd McNeil, Charles White, Meta Fuller, Cedric Dover, Geraldine McCullock, May Jackson, and Alain Locke.

Why did I list so many names? With the increased use of the Internet, readers can use this list and find out more about the vast contributions of so many African American and African American-influenced artists, rather than always hearing about the same few. At the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., there are “some 154 works by African American artists, from Romare Bearden, Willie Cole, Sam Gilliam, Barkley Leonard Hendricks, Joshua Johnson, Jacob Lawrence, Edward L. Loper, Joseph Norman, Horace Pippin, Martin Puryear, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, Bob Thompson, James Wells, and Charles Wilbert White.”

When America had Black craftsmen, it was the Black craftsmen that made furniture, did the wrought iron work, glazed the jars, did the fine tooled leather work on saddles and book covers, as well as do art with patterned textiles. When my mother and I worked in the fields, I noticed that it was the Black workers who did the bulk of the labor. While working, some of them sang. They could just make up a song with the drop of a hat! I also noticed the art of Black people as they labored in kitchens, worked in yards, cleaned houses, worked as mechanics, built freeways, highways and bridges, and other intensive labor work. However, after selfish and greedy business people began to bring over new immigrants by the millions and put them to work while putting Black people out of work and into depression, much of the natural art came to a standstill. The music became more harsh and other art forms took on a different look. Maybe their original, free-flowing happy music and other art will return when they are allowed to go back to work as well as develop their own businesses and become happy with their production.

Readers are encouraged to check out the Internet since there are over 32,000,000 links concerning African American Art! Add the music and singing and the list goes on!

Credits:
David C. Cook, “Black America: Yesterday and Today”
http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
http://www.afn.org/~sigma1/jwjohn.html
http://www.si.edu/
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/ggafamer/ggafamer-main1.html


Next time: Some very short tidbits are coming from “Black Fax,” featuring over 3,000 questions and info on African American Culture!

What is November known for? All Saints Day? American Indian Heritage? Families Stories Month? Military Family Appreciation? National Adoption? AIDS Awareness? National Peanut Butter Lovers? National Scholarship? Sweet Potato Awareness? Vegan Month?

Credit: http://www.brownielocks.com/NOVEMBER2009.html