#Black Artists

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 5 July 2026

Photography

Through the Lens of Activism: Zanele Muholi in 5 Photographs

Zanele Muholi is not only one of South Africa’s most celebrated contemporary artists but also a leading voice in the global conversation around...

Carlotta Mazzoli 23 June 2026

Women Artists

Clementine Hunter: Painting Black Life from Memory

Clementine Hunter taught herself to paint in her fifities and spent the rest of her life chronicling the Black Southern experience, not with slogans...

Wen Gu 19 June 2026

History

Bondage and Freedom—The Protest Art of Two Abolitionists

Since the elites in power like the status quo, social reform is a grassroots movement.  How do reformers engage the masses? With art. Should protest...

Helen Jeffery 19 June 2026

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 June 2026

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 19 June 2026

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 14 June 2026

Photography

Black Feminist Photographers Fighting for Social Inclusion of Marginalized People

This is a story of three Black female photographers who through their documentary photographs, handle and explore gender identity and related topics...

Petra Dragasevic 8 June 2026

Pop art

Grace Jones and Keith Haring: The Collaboration That Electrified Pop Culture

Keith Haring and Grace Jones did more than just collaborate—they created a cultural earthquake. Their partnership was bold, vibrant, and...

Sabrina Phillips, Szymon Jocek 1 June 2026

Contemporary Art

New York Art Week 2026: 12 Highlights from NYC’s Spring Art Frenzy

Between marquee art fairs, auction-house madness, downtown openings, uptown previews, long-awaited gallery and museum exhibitions, and the artsy...

MJ Rivera 28 May 2026

North American Art

In the Playhouse: Art Brut and American Folklore in Nellie Mae Rowe’s Work

By transforming discarded objects into part of an organic environment and turning personal experience into visual language, Nellie Mae Rowe created...

Carlotta Mazzoli 11 May 2026

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Death of Cleopatra by Edmonia Lewis

As a Black and Indigenous woman, Edmonia Lewis overcame prejudice and defied societal expectations to become a successful sculptor. Her Death of...

Catriona Miller 8 May 2026