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Feb 1, 2023 · Learn about the work of 28 Black artists who have not been widely celebrated in art history, from the Harlem Renaissance to contemporary times. See their paintings, sculptures, prints, and films that explore themes of identity, history, and culture.
Explore more than two centuries of Black art in the NGA collection, from 19th century painters to modern and contemporary artists. Learn about their stories, works, and events through stories, videos, Artle, and more.
Learn about the connections between eight pairs of Black artists in the NGA collection, from Alma Thomas and Sylvia Snowden to Sam Gilliam and Stanley Whitney. Explore their diverse styles, subjects, and influences in this story and more resources.
- Joshua Johnson
- Edmonia Lewis
- Henry Ossawa Tanner
- Horace Pippin
- Augusta Savage
- Romare Bearden
- Jacob Lawrence
- Aaron Douglas
- Alma Thomas
- Jean-Michele Basquiat
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Joshua Johnson was a portrait painterliving and working in 18th and 19th-century Baltimore. While little is known about his background (there are conflicting reports regarding whether or not he was enslaved), over 100 portraits are attributed to the artist. All of these pieces are rendered in a characteristically naive style and most share a distin...
Sculptor Edmonia Lewis has the distinction of being the first African American and Native American artist to rise to national and international prominence. Born free in Upstate New York, Lewis began her career as a sculptor in Boston. Early success funded a trip to Rome, Italy, where she spent most of her career. Her Neoclassicalsculpture often tou...
After being rejected by many art schools due to his race, Henry Ossawa Tannerenrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1879. This made him the Academy's only African American student. While there, he studied under Thomas Eakins and was influenced by his progressive approach to art. Ossawa Tanner later moved to France, where he was embrac...
Self-taught painter Horace Pippinonce said that his time served in WWI “brought out all the art in me.” In fact, he took up art to rehabilitate his arm after being shot in battle. In the 1930s, he began painting on stretched fabric and often revisited themes related to the war. As his career continued, he painted landscapes, as well as political an...
In 1918, a groundbreaking movement emerged in New York City. Known today as the Harlem Renaissance, this “golden age” of art, literature, and music transformed the Harlem neighborhood into a cultural hub for African Americans, with Augusta Savage‘s many contributions at its core. Savage was a Florida-born sculptor. In 1921, she moved to New York Ci...
Born in 1911, Romare Bearden was a prolific creative who was not only a visual artist but also an author and songwriter. Throughout his long career, he experimented with different mediums, including oil paint and collage. His early work was influenced by Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, while he later evolved into a more abstract style. In the ...
Jacob Lawrence was born in New Jersey in 1918. At just 23 years old, he completed his Migration Series. This colorful collection of paintings tells the story of the Great Migration, a mass exodus of over 6 million African Americans fleeing the segregated South to urbanized areas across the country. Imagined as avant-garde shapes and rendered in bri...
Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1899, Aaron Douglasworked in a glass factory and steel foundry in order to earn money for college. After graduating in 1922 with his degree in fine arts, he taught in the Kansas City, Missouri area before heeding the call of Johnson to head to New York City to be part of the creative scene in Harlem. Once in New York, Dou...
Alma Thomasspent her whole life breaking new ground. When she graduated from Howard University in 1924, she became the first graduate of the school's new fine arts department. She then spent the next 35 years at Washington, D.C.'s Shaw Junior High School as an art teacher, where she helped shape young minds. Many people would be satisfied with that...
New York City would continue to serve as a catalyst for Black artists for decades, with Jean-Michel Basquiat among the Big Apple's most famous artists—and contemporary art's most universally recognized figures. Basquiat was born in Brooklyn to a Puerto Rican mother and a Haitian father in 1960. As a teenager, he helped pioneer and popularize street...
Learn about 14 famous African American artists who created portraits, sculptures, and paintings that reflected their cultural heritage and personal experiences. From Joshua Johnson to Bisa Butler, discover their stories and styles in this article.
Explore the collection of works by African American artists in various media, spanning three centuries of creative expression. See paintings by William H. Johnson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, and more.
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Explore a selection of self-portraits and other works by Black artists in the Smithsonian's collections. Visual Art and the American Experience, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, illustrates the critical role American artists of African descent have played in shaping the history of American art.
To celebrate Black History Month, we’re bringing stories of Black American artists to the forefront. Collectively, their work in our collection explores universal themes of beauty, kinship, and the time-honored tradition of responding to the artists who preceded and inspired them.
