Posts tagged "Romare Bearden"
Lot 23: ED CLARK, “Gray Force,” 1972 (acrylic on canvas, 83 x 111 inches / 210.8 x 281.9 cm). | Estimate $400,000-$600,000 AT PHILLIPS NEW YORK, the forthcoming New Now auction features dozens of works by new and rising talents, many of them African contemporary artists dedicated to figure painting, exploring representation and identity...
Latest News in Black Art features updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Mary Evans. | Photo by Christa Holka APPOINTMENTS Nigerian born, British artist and educator Mary Evans (above) was named director of the University College London (UCL) Slade School of Fine Art. Over the past five...
FIVE NEWLY PUBLISHED illustrated art books celebrate an intergenerational slate of Black artists. The volumes include the first monograph of Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu and books dedicated to the work of Ming Smith and Romare Bearden. A collection of found photographs and contemporary Caribbean art are also explored: “Wangechi Mutu (Phaidon Contemporary Artists...
MAJOR PAINTINGS by Norman Lewis, Sam Gilliam, Charles Alston, Edward Bannister, and Romare Bearden are among the auction highlights at Bonhams in New York this week. The premium works by key figures of 19th and 20th century African American art represent the legacy of a family and a longstanding Black-owned gallery. Featured in the...
ALMA THOMAS IS RECOGNIZED for her masterful use of color, pattern, and rhythm. With cascading columns of color raining down on a large-scale canvas, “The Eagle Has Landed” (1970-71) is a prominent example of her famed Space paintings. Dominated by vertical planes of blue-toned dabs, the abstract work was inspired by the first moon...
THEMED EXHIBITIONS exploring the Great Migration and showcasing works by metal workers in Memphis and young fashion photographers are among the noteworthy shows featuring Black artists that opened in museums this spring and summer. From Seattle to Cleveland, Atlanta, Boston, and London, many of these exhibitions remain open through September. Museums are presenting works...
IN NEW YORK, MAJOR AUCTION HOUSES lined up a variety of significant works by critically recognized Black artists for their modern and contemporary art Evening Auctions, with estimates ranging from the high six figures to multiple millions. Several lots carried estimates that if reached would result in new artist records at auction. The premium...
THREE FOLK MUSICIANS (1967) by Romare Bearden is one of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art’s prized acquisitions. The large-scale collage was added to the collection of the Richmond museum in 2016 and with the newfound popularity of jigsaw puzzles, a 500-piece version of the work is now available from the museum’s gift shop....
THE EVER-PRESENT FLORAL PATTERNS in the background of Kehinde Wiley’s famous portraits inspired a set of notecards. A deck of playing cards features artwork by Gee’s Bend, Ala., quilt artists. Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Escape Collage is emblazoned on a hoodie. From apparel and accessories to stationery and home goods, African American artists have inspired...
NEW U.S. ART MUSEUM and institutional exhibitions opening in October include solo shows of Conrad Egyir in San Jose, Betye Saar in Miami, Thaddeus Mosley in Baltimore, and Jennifer Packer in New York. A visit to the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., will make efficient use of your time, with three must-see shows opening...
“Juba” (1965) by Charles White THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS selected Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Greatest Migration” for its campus book project during the 2012-13 academic year. In conjunction with the campus-wide reading, Nelson Gallery at UC Davis presented “Migration: Jacob Lawrence and Elizabeth Catlett,” further...
ANNUAL SURVEYS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART, wall calendars provide an affordable way to appreciate and display the work of Black artists. In recent years, the broadening interest in African American art has been reflected in an increasing number of wall calendars featuring the work. The selections have included surveys of historic, modern, and contemporary...
WORKS BY AN ECLECTIC MIX of artists were offered at Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction on Oct. 2 in New York. Important figures from the second half of the 20th century were featured alongside today’s most critically recognized contemporary artists. Five African American artists were ranked among the 10 top-10 highest-priced works by Kerry James...
A 2021 WALL CALENDAR showcasing the work of jazz age modernist Archibald Motley (1891-1981) serves as a reminder that Black institutions were the first to collect the work of African American artists in a meaningful way. “Barbeque” (1934) appears on the cover of the calendar. One of Motley’s famous genre scenes, the painting belongs...
“Untitled (Parade)” (2016) by Kevin Beasley HISTORICALLY, FEW MAINSTREAM American museums have collected art by African American artists in a meaningful or representational manner. To address generational deficits and fill gaps, many museums have established special funds and committees dedicated to acquiring African American art. A collection exhibition currently on view at Pérez...
PROTESTING POOR WORKING CONDITIONS, Memphis sanitation workers walked off their jobs in February 1968. More than 1,300 black men went on strike. Carrying signs that declared “I Am A Man,” they demanded recognition of their union, better wages, and improved safety standards. Two months later, Martin Luther King Jr., went to Memphis to support...
OVER THE PAST YEAR, an “African American Art” wall calendar has featured a succession of 19th and 20th century artists, each month showcasing works by William H. Johnson, Robert S. Duncanson, and James A. Porter, among others. Expressing support for Angela Davis, Charles White‘s “Love Letter” (1971) presided over October and this month Laura...
THE SPRING CONTEMPORARY AUCTIONS at Phillips New York featured a variety of works by critically acclaimed African American artists—emerging, mid-career, and long-established figures. Lots sold against the backdrop of Mark Bradford’s “Helter Skelter II” (2007), which was on display behind the auctioneer’s podium over the course of three sales spanning two days. On May...
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS figured prominently in Sotheby’s recent Contemporary Curated auction. Works by 32 African American artists were offered, some rarely if ever shown publicly including a 2002 portrait of Malcolm X by Henry Taylor acquired directly from the artist and a pair of Robert Colescott interior scenes that give a nod to Roy...
“In My Solitude” (2018) by Billie Zangewa at Blank Projects. ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH (ABMB) opens to the public today. The 17th edition of the art fair features more than 250 galleries from 35 countries in the newly renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. The enthusiasm surrounding ABMB has infused the entire city over the...