Paul Goodnight is a talented painter and ceramist known for his works on hit television series. Born in Chicago on December 31, 1946, Goodnight’s father abandoned him and his mother, a social worker, at a very early age. They moved to New London, Connecticut and … Read MorePaul Goodnight (1946- )
Théodore Chassériau was perhaps one of the most talented but less celebrated artists of the 19th century. Born on September 20, 1819 in El Limón, a provincial town in the Dominican Republic, Chassériau was the son of Benoît Chassériau, a French diplomat and bureaucrat, and … Read MoreThéodore Chassériau (1819-1856)
In the following article sociologist and African American Studies professor Patricia A. Banks describes the rise of private art collectors and collections among African Americans. Her article also shows the growing acceptance of African American art and artists in major museums and galleries across the … Read MoreCollecting African American Art: From the Harlem Renaissance to the Obama Era
Grafton Tyler Brown, the most successful African American artist in the 19th Century west, lived his adult life as a white man. This says more about America’s racial structure than it does about his choice to pass for white. Brown was born on February 22, … Read MoreGrafton Tyler Brown (1841-1918)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” In 2004 former President Clinton’s and former First Lady Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s official oil portraits were revealed in the East Room at the executive mansion. The artist, Simmie Lee Knox, became in 2002 the first African American artist to get … Read MoreSimmie Lee Knox (1935- )
In 1961, Margaret Burroughs and her husband, Charles Burroughs founded the Ebony Museum of Chicago, later called the DuSable Museum of African American History. The DuSable is the oldest museum of its type in the United States. Margaret Burroughs was born Margaret Taylor on November … Read MoreMargaret Burroughs (1917-2010)
Warren Buck was Chancellor (now Emeritus and professor) of the University of Washington, Bothell (UWB), in Snohomish County, from June 1999 through June 2005. Dr. Buck was born on February 16, 1946 to Mr. & Mrs. Warren W. Buck Jr., in Washington, D.C. Buck earned … Read MoreWarren Buck (1946- )
Horace Pippin, a soldier in World War I and later a painter, was born on February 22nd, 1888 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, but his family moved to Goshen, New York when he was three. His grandparents were slaves, and his parents worked as domestics. Pippin … Read MoreHorace Pippin (1888-1946)
Robert S. Duncanson was a landscape and portrait painter born in northern New York in 1817. His father was Scottish and his mother was a mulatto. While Robert was technically born free due to manumission laws, he still faced the enormous prejudice against African Americans … Read MoreRobert S. Duncanson (1817-1872)
Robert Colescott’s massive paintings evoke powerful emotions and thoughtful contemplation. For the past thirty years, Colescott has engaged themes of race, gender, and social inequality. His art is both highly charged and also intrinsically beautiful. In 1997, Colescott was the first African American painter to … Read MoreRobert Colescott (1925-2009)
