Thomas Blackshear is a renowned painter and sculptor. Blackshear was born in Waco, Texas on November 14, 1955 to Thomas Richman Blackshear, a U.S. Air Force pilot, and his wife, whose name is unknown. Mostly raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Blackshear loved to draw. Upon finishing … Read MoreThomas Richman Blackshear II (1955- )
Amy Sherald, a portrait artist, was the first African American woman to complete a presidential portrait for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. She is best known for painting the official portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama. Sherald was born on August 30, 1973 in Columbus, Georgia, … Read MoreAmy Sherald (1973- )
Clarence Lee Major is a distinguished poet, novelist, painter, anthologist, lexicographer, memoirist, and teacher. His creative output encompasses a wide range of artistic and intellectual endeavors across six decades, producing works that have often defied expectations, provoked controversy, and revealed new ways of seeing. Major was born December 31, 1936, … Read MoreClarence Major (1936- )
Josef Nassy was an Afro-Jewish artist and Holocaust survivor. Born on January 19, 1904 in Paramaribo, Surinam (Dutch Guiana), he was one of seven children born to Adolf Philipus Nassy, a prosperous Jewish businessman who was elected to the Surinam Parliament, and Elisabeth Carolina Natalia Nassy (born de Maesschalk), a Surinamese … Read MoreJosef Johan Cosmo Nassy (1904-1976)
One of the few painters from the Americas with a degree of African ancestry who was active in the 1800s and has representative works in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France is Guillaume Guillon-Lethière. Born January 10, 1760, near Sainte-Anne on the island of Guadeloupe … Read MoreGuillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760-1832)
Murillo Discovering Sebastián Gómez Painting in Murillo’s Studio “Image Ownership: Public Domain” Spanish Baroque painter Sebastián Gómez was born around 1646 in Seville, Spain, a product of that city’s sizeable African-descended community. Ordinary benchmarks pertaining to most of his life—ancestry, circumstances of birth, parentage, … Read MoreSebastián Gómez (1646?–1690?)
Depending on the source consulted, Spanish Baroque painter Juan de Pareja was born in the region of Andalusia, Spain, either in Seville or the much smaller city of Antequera 82 miles southeast, reputedly to a female of African descent and a native Spanish male whose … Read MoreJuan de Pareja (ca. 1606-1670)
Camille J. Billops, artist, filmmaker, archivist, and professor, was born on August 12, 1933, in Los Angeles. Her parents were Alma Gilmore and Lucius Billops, and she has one sister, Billie. She married James V. Hatch, a professor of theater at the University of California, … Read MoreCamille Billops (1933-2019)
African American artist and dancer Thelma Johnson Streat was born in Yakima, Washington on August 29, 1912, the second of Gertrude Beatrice Carson and James A. Johnson’s five children. Streat’s artistic ability was evident at a young age. She graduated from Washington High School in … Read MoreThelma Beatrice Johnson Streat (1912-1959)
Oil Painting of James V. Herring by James Porter, 1923 (Image Courtesy of Howard University) James Vernon Herring was an influential American artist and teacher in the early twentieth century. He played an integral role in devising new ways by which art would be viewed … Read MoreJames V. Herring (1887-1969)
