Posted on Jul-23-2009

A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund


A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund



Edition: 1
ISBN: 0810125889
Number Of Pages: 176
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
The Julius Rosenwald Fund has been largely ignored in the literature of both art history and African American studies, despite its unique focus, intensity, and commitment. Spertus Museum in Chicago has organized an exhibition, guest curated by Daniel Schulman, that presents and explores the work of funded artists as well as the history of the Fund. Through it, and this accompanying collection of essays, illustrations, and color plates, we see the Fund's groundbreaking initiative to address issues relating to the unequal treatment of blacks in American life. The book constitutes a veritable who's who of African American artists and intellectuals of the first half of the twentieth century, as well as a roll call of modern contributors who represent the leading scholars in their fields, including Peter M. Ascoli, grandson and biographer of Julius Rosenwald, and Kinshasha Holman Conwill, deputy director of the National Museum of African American Art and Culture. With far-reaching influence even today, the Julius Rosenwald Fund stands alongside the Rockefeller and Carnegie funds as a major force in American cultural history. This book takes an illuminating look at an innovative fund and the opportunities it brought to African American artists.

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Posted on Jul-19-2009

Black Art: Ancestral Legacy : The African Impulse in African American Art


Black Art: Ancestral Legacy : The African Impulse in African American Art


Author: Alvia J. Wardlaw
ISBN: 0810931044
Number Of Pages: 305
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
For the first time, a major exhibition examines the impact of African culture on black artists, both trained and self-taught, in a stunning range of 157 works which are variously bold, witty, historical, and mysterious. 49 biographical outlines; 320 illustrations, 170 in full color.

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Posted on Jul-15-2009

A Century Of African american Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection


A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection


Average Rating:
ISBN: 0813534577
Number Of Pages: 280
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
"Paul Jones is a passionate collector with a very good eye. He [has] sought out very good examples of excellent artists who have played prominent roles in American art."—Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Chief Curator, Smithsonian American Art Museum

The Paul R. Jones Collection is one of the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive holdings of African American art in the world. Jones, who was named by Art and Antiques as one of the top one hundred collectors in the United States, began buying paintings, prints, photographs, and sculpture four decades ago and has now amassed over fifteen hundred works, many of them by well-known artists. Among the sixty-six represented in A Century of African American Art are Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James VanDerZee, Carrie Mae Weems, and Hale Woodruff.

Lavishly illustrated with over one hundred color photographs, this book provides an important resource for the study of the works included in the Jones collection, the artists who created them, as well as the social and historical contexts that engendered them. The volume brings together ten essays, which examine four issues in American art: portraiture and realism in relation to abstract expressionism, the implications of color, the role of narrative, and the concept of multiple originals. Each essay makes the intentional effort to de-race African American art—not to strip the work of its idiomatic cultural footing, but rather to situate it within the larger picture of the nation’s history and cultural traditions.

Reflecting the diversity of the collection itself, the contributors come from wide-ranging fields including American art, African American art, African art, art conservation, color theory, photography, and sociology. Together, the eclectic selections make a major contribution to recontextualizing African American scholarship in the broadest sense, while also providing important insights into the Jones collection.

Contributors are Marcia R. Cohen, Diana McClintock, Ann Eden Gibson, Winston Kennedy, Debra Hess Norris, Ikem Stanley Okoye, Sharon Pruitt, Carla Williams, and Margaret Andersen.


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Customer Reviews


A Magnificent Collection - A Magnificent Book
Paul R. Jones differs from the typical collector of world-class art in too many ways to enumerate. For one thing, he is not independently wealthy nor did he inherit a fortune - no, this son of a miner grew up in a work camp, and for most of his life, his "day job" has been public service. But he has brought to his collection - and therefore, to us - a personal passion, curiosity and creativity unsurpassed by the likes of Guggenheim or Getty.

The "dean of African American collectors," Jones avoided trend buying and operated outside the more traditional acquisition modes. He occasionally purchased work he "did not understand by artists he did not know" because, in his words, "something in it drew me in...and I trusted it to take me somewhere..." Buying from (at the time) relative unknowns, his purchase often paid the month's rent or put food on the table.

The result of this 40 year commitment to African American artists is a magnificent panorama encompassing 1500 works by the likes of Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Betye Saar and more than 60 others. This astounding collection has been donated to the University of Delaware's University Museum, and this book helps celebrate the first major exhibition of works drawn from it.

The book presents gorgeous reproductions of more than 100 works by 66 artists, with biographical information about them and also about Jones. But it's not a mere exhibition catalog; it also presents ten thought-provoking essays which intentionally strive to "de-race" African American art, placing it within the larger picture of the nation's history and cultural traditions. For example, Ikem Stanley Okoye's essay "Reign(ing) in Color: Toward a Wilder History of American Art" explores how the systematic use of color serves purposes other than surface appearance.

A magnificent book to celebrate a magnificent collection.

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Posted on Jul-15-2009

The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art


Author:
  • Andrea D. Barnwell
  • Tritobia Hayes Benjamin
  • Kirsten Buick
  • Walter O. Evans
  • Amy M. Mooney
Edition: 2nd prt.
ISBN: 0295979208
Number Of Pages: 165
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
Dr. Walter O. Evans first purchased a portfolio of prints by Jacob Lawrence in the late 1970s. Now, more than 20 years after acquiring his first piece of fine art, Dr. Evans owns a phenomenal collection that ranges from choice works by the expatriate artists Mary Edmonia Lewis and Henry Ossawa Tanner to noteworthy pieces by the celebrated innovators Charles White, Richard Hunt, and Archibald J. Motley, Jr. "The Evans Collection" also contains the greatest number of works by foremost artists Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden in private hands. "The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art" features a broad selection of outstanding works from this important private collection. Eighty colour plates illustrate the aesthetic legacy created by African American artists over more than 150 years. The pioneering landscape painters Edward Mitchell Bannister, Robert Scott Duncanson, and Charles Ethan Porter are represented, as are the modern artists Richmond Barthe and Aaron Douglas, who were progressive participants in the flowering of African American culture during the Harlem Renaissance. Also included are paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by Elizabeth Catlett, Eldzier Cortor, and Horace Pippin, artists first acclaimed during the 1930s and 1940s. In addition the book documents the work of other modern artists such as Beauford Delaney, Norman Lewis, and Alma Thomas, who experimented with form and abstraction in recent decades. In an introduction and substantive essays four notable scholars examine the visual, social, and political contexts that influenced the artists. Dr. Evans contributes a personal statement about the joy he finds in collecting - and his desire to advance knowledge of and appreciation for the rich heritage created by American artists of African descent.

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Posted on Jul-11-2009

African Masks: From the Barbier-Mueller Collection (Art Flexi Series)


African Masks: From the Barbier-Mueller Collection (Art Flexi Series)


I bought the hardcover version of this & it is well worth the additional expense because the photos are excellent in quality & number. The printing of the photos is of a very high quality. The book is well organized by region & tribes; since many tribes do not adhere to modern borders. I also bought THE TRIBAL ARTS OF AFRICA it is very good but the organization is poor (by region & country) and the descriptions for the smaller photos are not in the same order as the photos, so one has to really search to find out what one is looking at. Whereas the variety and great quality of the photos in AFRICAN MASKS enabled me to definitively identify a mask I acquired 30 years ago. If you collect or love viewing West African carvings I recommend investing in the hardcover version.

Average Rating:
Author:
  • Iris Hahner
  • Maria Kecskesi
  • Lazlo Vajda
ISBN: 3791338072
Number Of Pages: 287
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:

Now available in a flexi edition, this beautiful volume presents nearly 250 of the finest African masks from the incomparable Barbier-Mueller collection, which is unique in its vast number of masterpieces and wide geographic scope.

The book includes one hundred color plates accompanied by in-depth descriptions, as well as numerous black-and-white photographs of the masks as they are used in religious and secular ceremonies. An introductory text by renowned scholars describes how the masks are constructed, examines their significance in African culture, and offers insight into the universal practice of masquerading. A unique contribution to the literature on African art, this book is also a wonderful introduction to countless fascinating, age-old spiritual traditions still practiced today.



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Customer Reviews


African Masks: The Barbier-Mueller Collection
Great overview of all African masks, with intelligent background and supportive material. Not just a picture book or rehash of oft-repeated images. Really a book to be used and absorbed.. It will be a great help.


African Masks
This is the best book I have found on the psychology and understanding of African masks. Just fantastic, worth the money. 80% color plates, brief outline of basic African mask types and their interpretation, grouped by region and by style.


African Masks
This is the best book I have found on the psychology and understanding of African masks. Just fantastic, worth the money. 80% color plates, brief outline of basic African mask types and their interpretation, grouped by region and by style.


African Masks from the Barbier-Mueller Collection, Geneva
First-rate, high quality throughout, this volume does what a book of this type should do: packs in plenty of color plates of the masks, and shows them being worn (in black-and-white in situ photos) on the accompanying left-hand pages of the spreads. The collection is far-ranging and, though it cannot include every type of mask, it does manage to convey the incredible variety, richness and paradoxical sophistication of this art form. Highly recommended.

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Posted on Jul-10-2009

Black: The African Male Nude in Art and Photography, Vol. 8


Black: The African Male Nude in Art and Photography, Vol. 8

Product Description:
The eighth volume of Black is another highlight of this successful book series. A large variety of excellent artists, including Peter Arnold, Harriet Leibowitz and Jim Jager, guarantee a book of

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Posted on Jul-09-2009

African Art in American Collections


African Art in American Collections

Product Description:
African art -- with its powerful forms, complex symbolism, and formal inventiveness -- has only recently come to be recognized as one of the great artistic traditions of mankind. This rich tradition is showcased here in a remarkable selection of outstanding works. Nearly 1,600 objects are illustrated, each accompanied by scholarly information on style, usage, meaning, and cultural origin. Featured individually by section are the styles of Western Sudan, the West African Coastal Region, West Central Africa, Central Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa. A thought-provoking introduction helps readers understand the significance of African art as a form of human creative expression, its relationships to contemporary Western art, and the controversies surrounding it in the world's museums. Newcomers to the field as well as professionals will find many questions answered in the text and captions. FThis comprehensive survey of some 230 styles of African art is an essential reference for scholars, teachers, students, curators, collectors, and dealers.

Features:
  • ISBN13: 9780764320057
  • Condition: USED - Very Good
  • Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
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Posted on Jul-09-2009

Leo Frobenius on African History, Art, and Culture: An Anthology


Author: Leopold Sedar Senghor
Edition: 1 American Ed
ISBN: 1558764259
Number Of Pages: 233
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
Frobenius' pivotal works on African culture represented a landmark in ethnography. His writings, when discovered by young African intellectuals in the early 1900s, reverberated through the community of Africans in search of cultural legitimacy. Frobenius was credited with giving Black Africa back its soul and its identity in the early part of the last century. His contributions and observations laid the groundwork for the concept of negritude, advanced by Leopold Sedar Senghor, who would later serve as president of Senegal - an expression engendered by Frobenius' work that developed hand in hand with the self-determination of the Harlem Renaissance. This collection was originally published in Germany and edited by Eike Haverlund, the 1971 recipient of the Haile Selassie prize for Ethiopian studies.

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Posted on Jul-03-2009

Going Through the Storm: The Influence of African American Art in History


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Author: Sterling Stuckey
ISBN: 0756797829
Languages:
Unknown: English
Original Language: English
Published: English

Product Description:
Upon his arrival in the North, Frederick Douglass found, to his utter astonishment, "persons who could speak of the singing among slaves as the evidence of their contentment and happiness." As late as 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois observed that African American spirituals had led naive whites to believe that "life was joyous to the black slave, careless and happy." While these misconceptions have largely disappeared, the history of African American culture--and its importance to American history as a whole--is still a subject little understood by the majority of Americans.
In Going through the Storm, Sterling Stuckey offers a compelling look at one of the world's richest cultural traditions. He traces the fertile legacy of African American art from its roots in tribal myth, through its blossoming in slave music and dance, to its fruition in the great gospel-singing movements of the 1960s. In the process he shows how this tradition, grounded as it was in adversity, represents one of the great triumphs of the human spirit: slaves and their descendants, by way of Negro spirituals, the blues, and jazz, transformed the pain of oppression into a transcendent and timeless beauty. And, as he explores these various styles, Stuckey reveals that the development of a distinctive African American aesthetic follows (and helps illuminate) the course of the nation's history.
In a series of engaging, lucidly written essays, Going through the Storm covers the entire spectrum of African American culture, offering along the way many fresh and important insights. Within the context of slavery and slave music, Stuckey presents a new look at the foundations of black nationalism and the civil rights movement. In his eloquent reflections on Paul Robeson, he shows how black art offers a commentary on the human spirit so genuine and resonant that its appeal has reached across the boundaries of race to touch most of humanity. Writing of Herman Melville, he demonstrates how the great novelist was struck with the importance of African culture in history--and the reciprocal relationship of history to African culture--and carefully explored this theme in Benito Cereno. Frederick Douglass is presented for the first time as a major theorist of African American culture, one whose thought is profoundly relevant to our current debates on culture and race. And, perhaps most important, Stuckey explains that because black artists have been deeply interested for so long in the question of oppression, their art is of particular use to historians. In what amounts to nothing less than a revolutionary approach, Stuckey considers the uses of music as history, arguing that an easing of barriers between academic disciplines will lead to a better understanding of human life in general.
A timely, readable, and often moving volume, Going through the Storm not only expands our understanding of black music, dance, literature, and folklore, but provides a new vantage point from which to view the entire landscape of American culture.

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Posted on Jul-02-2009

Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art


Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art



Author: Grant Hill
ISBN: 0822333066
Number Of Pages: 192
Languages:
Original Language: English
Unknown: English
Published: English

Product Description:
Since 1990, Grant Hill has thrilled sports fans with his artistry on the basketball court, first as an All-American player at Duke University and then as a six-time NBA All-Star for the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic. During these years, Hill has amassed a collection of art by African Americans that he now shares with the public through this book, which accompanies a traveling exhibition.
The forty-six pieces documented here include thirteen works that span the career of the great Romare Bearden, from his 1941 gouache painting Serenade to the important collages of the 1980s. Hill’s fascination with artists’ depiction of women is represented in Elizabeth Catlett’s lithographs, many of them from the 1992 series “For My People,” and her sculptures in stone, bronze, and onyx. In addition to these two giants of twentieth-century art, the Hill Collection features pieces by Phoebe Beasley, Arthello Beck Jr., John Biggers, Malcolm Brown, John Coleman, Edward Jackson, and Hughie Lee Smith.
Hill began collecting art in the early 1990s after learning from his parents to appreciate artworks not only as objects of beauty but as expressions of heritage and culture. According to the internationally known curator Alvia J. Wardlaw, he is part of an emerging group of young African American collectors who have “raised the bar for others.” Hill writes, “Getting to know yourself means understanding your background and appreciating those who have come before you. My father has a saying he uses in speeches: ‘To be ignorant of your past is to remain a boy. ‘The interest in my heritage as an African American is reflected in this collection.”
Something All Our Own features Wardlaw’s essay on the history of African American collecting. It also features articles about Bearden and Catlett by the scholars Elizabeth Alexander and Beverly Guy-Sheftall and reflections about Hill by the historian John Hope Franklin, Duke’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, and the sportswriter William C. Rhoden. Hill and his father, the NFL great Calvin Hill, contribute a dialogue that explores their motivations for collecting art.
At the heart of the book are the exquisite color photographs of the forty-six artworks included in the exhibition, with commentary by Wardlaw and by Hill himself.
As a star athlete, Grant Hill is well aware that African Americans who excel in sports and entertainment are more broadly recognized than their counterparts in artistic fields. He strives to inspire young people to explore their heritage and broaden their concept of excellence by learning more about African American art. By sharing his artworks with collectors and fans, Hill reminds us that while the jump shot is ephemeral, art is enduring.

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