A collection of illustrated essays highlights the works of influential Black artists from Washington, DC, from the 1920s to the present

In a twentieth century during which modern art largely abandoned beauty as its imperative, a group of Black artists from Washington, DC, made beauty the center of their art making. This book highlights these influential artists, including David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones, and Alma Thomas, in the context of what Jeffrey C. Stewart describes as the Washington Black Renaissance. Vibrant histories of key District institutions and the city's communities of educators, critics, and collectors animate a nuanced consideration of the evolution of an aesthetic dialectic from the 1920s up to the present day. The 15 essays in the volume are grounded by voices from a live artist panel at the National Gallery of Art in 2017, which included Lilian Thomas Burwell, Floyd Coleman, David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Keith Morrison, Martin Puryear, Sylvia Snowden, and Lou Stovall.

Published by the National Gallery of Art, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts/Distributed by Yale University Press

Author: Jeffrey C. Stewart
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Ngw-Stud Hist Art
Published: 01/31/2023
Series: Studies in the History of Art
Pages: 368
Weight: 5.8lbs
Size: 11.26h x 9.21w x 1.65d
ISBN: 9780300267105

About the Author
Jeffrey C. Stewart is professor of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a winner of a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.