African american artist biography

At 13, Lawrence and his siblings reunited with their mother who was residing in Harlem. Although he dropped out of school at the age of 16, he continued taking classes at the Harlem Art Workshop with under the mentorship of artist Charles Alston and frequently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He had already developed his own style of modernism, and began creating narrative series, painting 30 or more paintings on one subject.

After being briefly stationed in Florida and Massachusetts, he was assigned to be the Coast Guard artist aboard a troopship, documenting the war experience as he traveled around the world. During this time, he produced close to 50 paintings but all ended up being lost. When he returned to New York, Lawrence continued honing his craft but began struggling with depression.

In he admitted himself into Hillside Hospital in Queens, staying for close to a year. As a patient at the facility, he produced artwork that reflected his emotional state, incorporating subdued colors and melancholy figures in his paintings, which was a sharp contrast to his other works. She would earn multiple fellowships in the coming years, which finally opened the doors to her studying and traveling abroad.

Savage spent the rest of her career giving back to her community: She actively supported the next generation of Black artists and was credited for establishing the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Harlem Artists' Guild, and for serving as the director of WPA's Harlem Community Center. In , Gordon Parks was born in a poor, segregated Kansas town.

After sifting through a magazine and seeing photos of migrant workers, Parks bought his own camera at Little did he know, he would become the most prolific self-taught Black photographer of his time and his talents would expand into writing, composing, and directing films. Having captured images of inner-city life in Chicago, in Parks won a fellowship sponsored by the Farm Security Administration FSA , which was documenting social conditions in America.

He produced some of his most enduring works there, depicting how racism affected social and economic issues. Around the same time, he began freelancing for Vogue , entering the world of glamour photography and producing a distinctive style of action-oriented poses of models and their apparel. In Parks' photo essay of the life of a Harlem gang leader led him to a staff position at LIFE magazine, the preeminent photographic periodical in the country.

For the next 20 years, he captured a range of images in a multitude of genres, including celebrity portraits of Civil Rights activists Muhammad Ali , Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. But Parks wasn't interested in limiting his talents; he expanded his lens into Hollywood and became the first Black director of a major motion picture, The Learning Tree , an adaptation of his autobiography which he wrote in His next film, Shaft , became one of the biggest hits of and launched what would be known as Blaxploitation films.

Raised in Harlem, Jacob Lawrence grew up attending museums and participating in art workshops. In he enrolled at the American Artists School in New York on scholarship and by the time he graduated, he had already crafted his own personal style of modernism, depicting African American life in vivid color. By the age of 25, he became nationally famous for his Migration Series and after serving in World War II , produced the War Series , thus establishing himself as the most famous Black painter of the 20th century.

After suffering from a period of depression in the late s, Lawrence turned his efforts to teaching and accepted a position at the University of Washington , where he would teach for 15 years. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lorna Simpson is a photographer known for exploring questions around race, culture, gender, identity, and memory, oftentimes using Black women as the subjects of her art.

In the '90s, she began incorporating multi-paneled images onto felt taking on themes of public sexual encounters and became the first Black woman to be featured at the Venice Biennale. In the new millennium, Simpson turned to video installations to express herself in a new, refreshing way. In addition to her art being featured in galleries and museums all over the world, the Whitney Museum in New York City held a year retrospective of her work in Since then, Simpson has collaborated with rapper Common to create his album cover for Black America Again , and the following year worked with Vogue on a series of portraits showcasing professional women and their passion for art.

Lawrence's best known series is The Migration of the Negro , executed in and The panels portray the migration of over a million African Americans from the South to industrial cities in the North between and These panels, as well as others by Lawrence, are linked together by descriptive phrases, color, and design. This show received wide acclaim, and at the age of twenty four Lawrence became the first African American artist to be represented by a downtown "mainstream" gallery.

During the same month Fortune magazine published a lengthy article about Lawrence, and illustrated twenty six of the series' sixty panels. In the Downtown Gallery exhibited Lawrence's Harlem series, which was lauded by some critics as being even more successful than the Migration panels. At about the same time, he was also the recipient of a Rosenwald Grant for three consecutive years.

In Lawrence joined the U. Coast Guard and was assigned to troop ships that sailed to Italy and India. After his discharge in , Lawrence returned to painting the history of African American people. During the late s Lawrence was the most celebrated African American painter in America. Young, gifted, and personable, Lawrence presented the image of the black artist who had truly "arrived".

Lawrence was, however, somewhat overwhelmed by his own success, and deeply concerned that some of his equally talented black artist friends had not achieved a similar success. As a consequence, Lawrence became deeply depressed, and in July voluntarily entered Hillside Hospital in Queens, New York, to receive treatment. He completed the Hospital series while at Hillside.

Following his discharge from the hospital in , Lawrence resumed painting with renewed enthusiasm. In he was honored with a retrospective exhibition and monograph prepared by The American Federation of Arts. He also traveled to Africa twice during the s and lived primarily in Nigeria. The most recent retrospective of Lawrence's paintings was organized by the Seattle Art Museum in , and was accompanied by a major catalogue.

Featured Resource. Want to learn more about the painting you found while clearing out the attic? For answers, be prepared for a little detective work. Find lesson plans, hands-on activities, and more for learners of all ages. Featured Story. Become a member. A national membership group of museum friends who share a love of American art and craft.

A membership group for young professionals interested in the American art experience. Courtesy Dr. Rick Powell.

African american artist biography

Also known as William Henry Johnson. Biography By almost any standard, William H. More Information. Artist Biography. Luce Artist Biography. Playlist Description Transcript. June 30, — January 7, Johnson — and has done much in the past 30 years to preserve his art and establish his reputation. August 31, — February 28, The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant collections of African American art in the world.

May 12, — August 5, This focused installation features recently acquired photographs by Dawoud Bey in conversation with a painting by William H. Johnson that refer to the Underground Railroad. March 8, — September 10, Johnson's Fighters for Freedom series from the mids is a tribute to African American activists, scientists, teachers, and performers as well as international leaders working to bring peace to the world.

Through the eyes of almost-six-year-old Li'l Sis, the colorful story of Uncle Willie unfolds, a story that changes forever a little girl's perceptions of art and the world around her. The book is based on the life of African American artist William H. Johnson — and illustrated with his paintings.