Richmond Barthé was born in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi on January 28, 1901. Richmond was born in a hard time for African Americans. He demonstrated incredible guarantee as a craftsman at a youthful age, however as a Colored American in the South, he was banished from selecting in any of the craft schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, close to his home. At eighteen his area minister in New Orleans and an author for the New Orleans Times Picayune distinguished his capability. Richmond was eventually admitted to the Art Institute of Chicago, after struggling to get admitted to an art school. He began to study sculpture, which denoted a defining moment in his profession. After Barthe graduated in 1928, he opened up a studio in Harlem, where he stayed permanently in 1930. Nonetheless, ending up progressively disregarded by a symbolized world that had come to esteem deliberation an imaginative style which held no enthusiasm for him; Barthé moved to Jamaica in the late 1940s, and later existed in Switzerland and Italy before coming back to the United States in 1969. His career in Jamaica flourished, till he later decided to come back home to the states. Overall Richmond Barthe received many honors and awards including: Rosenwald Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Audubon Artists Gold Medal in 1950, and awards for interracial justice and honorary degrees from Xavier and St. Francis Universities. Overall this artist intrigues me as I’m sure it was extremely hard to start off. He was born during the worst times in America, racism throughout his life and then leading into the great depression. I’m glad he was able to express himself through the art that he published. The first work I would like to talk about is Barthé's Boxer (the... ... middle of paper ... ...ructure balance of the sculpture. How he did it all from memory and made it look fantastic. The blackberry woman may not be one of my favorites, but I love the controversy it brings. How our world can be so cruel just because the color of one’s skin, will still forever intrigue and irritate me. In conclusion I feel this artist is really inspiring, as his art gives a whole new look at life. That’s the way I look at it and feel as though he would too. He grew up in one of the hardest era’s for an African American and yet he still perspired, which to me is incredible. Overall his pieces give an interesting look on life, through a piece of metal representing life and humans. All of his artwork intrigued me and I was happy to be able to picture some of the pieces in person. This experience was truly different and I’m glad I chose this artist for his true passion
I think positive about this artist because he is one of those artists that actually and emotionally, is never far away from his home.
After reviewing Jacob Lawrence’s direct and dramatic paintings, it was clear that his painting helped him express himself. The painting was and still is a product of the economic and cultural self-determination that African-American dealt in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, during the migration and still evident in society today. The visual qualities in Jacob Lawrence artwork that is appealing are the vibrant colors and his clever way of self-expressing the time he was so familiar. In final analysis, his artwork expressed how he felt about his environment and what his perspective were during that time. And, how restrained his painting were, for instance, Street Scene – Restaurant, even though African- Americans had access to restaurants in the neighboring area but, he still place patriot outside the restaurant waiti...
While visiting the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the works of Archibald Motley caught my attention. Two paintings by the same artist are the focus of this compare and contrast paper. Both are oil paintings during the same time period. Portrait of my Grandmother was painted in 1922 and Hot Rhythm was painted in 1934 only 12 years later. Although the paintings are by the same artist and have similarities, there are also differences which make the artist’s work interesting. Portrait of My Grandmother and Hot Rhythm are two paintings by Motley that capture different emotions (aspects would be a better word) of African Americans.
born in Topeka, Kansas, and was sometimes referred as the "the father of black American art."
Jacob Lawrence is celebrated for his insightful depictions of American and, in particular, African American life. Best known for his epic series of paintings on such subjects as the lives of Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture, he has also created numerous prints, murals, and drawings. Among the latter are a delightful set of twenty-three illustrations...
...ility and the inability that humans have while they are asleep and dreaming. With every single object and or living thing shown he is making a statement and everything in the painting itself symbolizes something in the world. The portrait is a very unique and maybe one of the hardest pieces to interpret. The observer has to look at every little detail in the painting whether it be the lines, the colors that are used or the expressions that are being presented.
He depicted the figures in his paintings with dignity and grace. He got his ideas from several different sources. He used repetitive patterns and a lot of different colors and designs which are commonly found in a quilt or an African textile. He made up to as many as 60 paintings, each telling a story, and the messages are usually of human triumph over oppression and injustice. Although his paintings often relate to the history and experience of black people, their themes are universal.
Watts, Steven. “The Young Artist as Social Visionary” The Romance of Real Life. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. pp. 49-70.
Meta Warrick Fuller’s sculpture “Ethiopia Awakening” served as a metaphoric yearning for African culture, a symbolic image of emancipation, an awakening of African Americans diaspora identity, resurgence of Fuller’s artistic career and as a self-portrait of Fuller. The Progressive era, from 1890 to 1920, forms the backdrop to Fuller’s life and art. This period has come to symbolize the reform efforts of the middle class. White middle class progressives sought to reengineer industry and government, pushed for economic and social reforms. The Progressive era was also a time of intense contradictions and ambiguities. Race was the blind spot of white progressives. 1 At the turn of the twentieth-century African Americans continued to be caricatured and stereotyped as buffoons, servile menials, comic entertainers, threatening sub-humans which led to African Americans being objectified.2 When white Americans confronted African Americans in any meaningful way, they did so through the filter of a web of racist images that they placed over the black face of humanity like a mask over an actor. African American intellectuals understood that one of their central tasks to counter the negative representation of African Americans in art would be through the reimage of the physiognomy of African Americans. The task was an enormous one, especially since African Americans had only the most minimal control over the mass production and dissemination of information. In addition, the manufacture of products that displayed stereotypical and derogatory images of African Americans was particularly lucrative.3
In the early twentieth century, it was nationally debated as to whether or not Negro art was a category of art in the United States. Even for some today, it remains a debate. George Schuyler, Langston Hughes, and W.E.B. DuBois, all had strong arguments for the concept of “Negro Art” in the mid-1920s. After reading the essays of each writer, each one offers a different perspective. Their arguments help to build off one another and to counter argue with one another. Negro Art is very much alive in America; and it deserves to be respected as American Art without leading to the stereotypical absolute difference between the white and black races. The art piece I selected is a fist painted by an Upper School Art 1 student at McDonogh School, that
... though employing a familiar subject (the female form), shows the transformation from busy mosaics with gold embellishments to a brighter palate of colors and the use of stronger, bolder lines. The piece exemplifies his versatility as an artist.
Mooney, Amy M. “Archibald J. Motley Jr.” The David C. Driskell Series of African American Art: Volume IV. Pomegranate San Francisco. Copyright 2004
When considering art work people see painting and sculptor however, her form of art work was totally different. Quilting is a form of art that most people look over in the industry. I also took into consideration her message behind her work of art which was tradition, African American heritage and freedom. Her most famous piece of art was “Tar Beach” which was chosen for my research. My first thought when looking at the quilt was of black history, faith, and hope for the future and family. It seems that the only way the family could escape from the problems in the world was to go on the roof top and gain peace. One significant thing I found out about this artwork was that it constructed from a book in which I read several times as child. Then to see it come alive in a quilt that focused on a new idea was very interesting. Seeing the piece for the first time made me feel warm and enriched. I felt that I could connect with the characters in the quilt already just because of the ethnicity and gender. Although, I felt that “Tar Beach” #2 the second creation of the piece did not express the same feels as the original piece. The background scenery of “Tar Beach” #2 takes away from the family and the message being expressed. One thing that is good about the second piece was that there seem to be more wealth and enlighten between the family and their
Relating to a black artist, there will be subconscious biasness towards the subject in the article. However the author is free to critique. Respecting the author for the subject he chose to write, he made subtle mistakes. For instance, when introducing the artist, he choose to announce her as “Ms.Sherald” when the reader is not familiar
I chose to describe Jacob Lawrence because of the theme of relatable characteristics that each painting that I reviewed to brought to my remembrance For example the Barber Shop rendering from Jacobs spun my thoughts back to the simpler times of my youth. I would spend hours at the barbershop listening to all the stories and news of the day. Many of relatives had paintings similar to Lawrence’s style and looking over Mr. Lawrence’s work has a certain familiarity that I find comforting. Additionally, his attention to color, pattern and his detail research prior to producing a painting, certainly peaked my interest in becoming more familiar with the man and his works. His works were more recently viewed at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Nebraska at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, and Museum of Modern Art (Phillips Collection)