#African American

Women Artists

The Fabulous Sculpture and Mysterious Life of Edmonia Lewis

Edmonia Lewis (c. 1844-1907) was quite a force of nature. She was an African American and Native American woman who became an...

Alexandra Kiely 25 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Officer of the Hussars by Kehinde Wiley

Let’s talk about the Officer of the Hussars by Kehinde Wiley. Wiley is a Nigerian artist, based in New York, with studios in China and Senegal. He...

Joanna Kaszubowska 4 March 2024

Women Artists

Faith Ringgold: An American Icon

Faith Ringgold is an artist, educator, storyteller, activist, and a mother. Ringgold is also an American treasure whose artistic journey has followed...

Jennifer S. Musawwir 3 March 2024

Contemporary Art

13 Black Folk Artists from the American South

The thirteen self-taught artists below, from Bill Traylor to Nellie Mae Rowe, Thornton Dial to Mary T. Smith among others, created some of the most...

Adam Oestreich 19 February 2024

Alma Thomas, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, 1969, acrylic on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Alma Thomas

The style of Alma Thomas has been compared to Byzantine mosaics and the Pointillism of Georges Seurat. However, it firmly belongs to the Washington...

James W Singer 4 February 2024

Aaron Douglas, Judgment Day, 1939, oil on tempered hardboard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Judgement Day by Aaron Douglas

Judgment Day by Aaron Douglas is a masterpiece of Black history. It encapsulates the dynamic culture of the Harlem Renaissance through its striking...

James W Singer 4 February 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Fons Americanus by Kara Walker

Kara Elizabeth Walker, born in 1969, is an American contemporary artist. She is known as a painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist,...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 4 February 2024

Harriet Powers Women Artists

Harriet Powers: A Black Female Folk Artist Who Regained Her Glory

For much of the 20th century, the work of Harriet Powers, an enslaved and later emancipated Black folk artist, was erased from the art historical...

Kristin Urban 2 February 2024

Review

Last Chance to See! Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure in Los Angeles

Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure is an immersive art experience organized in Los Angeles by the family of the artist in a space designed by the...

Jennifer S. Musawwir 22 December 2023

Jean-Michel Basquiat at an exhibition of his work in 1988, Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York, NY, USA. Photograph vt Julio Donoso via The Guardian. Artist Stories

Like a Flame – Jean-Michel Basquiat in 5 Paintings

He started out a couch-surfing throwaway. One day, a painting of his would sell for the highest price ever for an American artist at a public...

Helen Jeffery 22 December 2023

History

Jacob Lawrence and the Great Migration

As a child of the Great Migration, Jacob Lawrence was well placed to undertake such a mammoth task in detailing the journey from the rural South that...

Wendy Gray 18 December 2023

Women Artists

Celebrating Alma Thomas: An African American Expressionist

Abstract Expressionism was a movement dominated by male artists. Painters such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning have held center...

Heather Johnson 2 November 2023