Black art exhibition at International House

A modest exhibition of the works of some noted African American artists is on display at the International House, in celebration of Black History Month. These prints chronicle the works of some leading black artists from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Prints range from Edward Bannister's impressionist "Sabin Point, Narragansett Bay," Jacob Lawrence's "The Parade" (1960) to Mississippi-born Joe Overstreet's more post-modern "Justice, Faith, Hope and Peace" (69). The exhibit also includes the rare

work of two black female artists: Faith Reinggold's "Cotton Fields, Sunflowers, Blackbirds and Quilting Bees" from the late 1880s and Harriet Powers's later "The Pictorial Quilt."

The African American artist during the 17th and 18th centuries was often a craftsman, either slave or freeman: a joiner, a blacksmith, a goldsmith, an ornamental iron worker, or a painter. Slaves often worked together with and became as proficient as their masters. Often on southern plantations, blacks developed great skills with miter boxes, hand saws, hammers and needles; and in many antebellum mansions the finely carved mantels and ornamental ironwork and utensils were the work of slaves. Carvings, pottery and ironwork sometimes showed African influences in design, although slave craftsmen usually conformed to the fashion of the times.

African American artists working before the Emancipation Proclamation (1865) were victims of the times. As craftsmen, they were excluded from drawing academies, artist's associations and mechanics' institutes. The only instruction one might have received was through the patronage of generous whites. Most black craftsmen had to struggle against almost insurmountable racial prejudice. Narrow attitudes prevailed, and regarded dancing, singing, story telling and the writing of recitation of dialect poetry as the only socially tolerable areas of artistic expression for black people. These conditions remained in effect long after the Civil War, resulting in the emigration of some black artists to friendlier areas of the world, especially to Europe, an option for many white American writers and artists as well.

There was no typical life-style of African American artists who remained in the US during the second half of the 19th century. For the lucky, there were in the movements for black education some art training; most of these focused only on black men. Only the Anti-Slavery League, an organization established to educate black people, continued after the Civil War and allowed black women, along with black men, to study. The political and social turbulence of the post Civil War period in the south was not very conducive to the creation of much art or literature for either blacks or whites.

Henry Ossawa Tanner was the most significant black artist of this late nineteenth century period. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. With the exception of a few early portraits and "The Banjo Lesson" (featured in the International House exhibit), his work has no racial content. As soon as Tanner was able, he moved to France and won acclaim after winning the patronage of the French government.

At the beginning of the 20th century, things began to look better for African American artists, especially after the success of Tanner. The Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro Movement helped, but then along came the Great Depression which ended all of these experiments and pretty much wiped out black artists. Many working during the 1920s and 30s vanished from public view, largely due to economic hardships. It's always difficult for any artist to earn a living at the "fine arts" but for black artists, the difficulty was even greater obtaining scholarships, grants and adequate economic acceptance for their work. Often they had to choose art-related activities, such as graphic design and photography, illustration and teaching.

After WWII, African American artists have increasingly become part of the American mainstream. Some paint black themes primarily but others do not. It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish art on the basis of nationality or ethnic background; the sociological content has generally decreased in all art. Large murals on black themes in inner city neighborhoods represent but one direction that black art may take in contemporary times.

The exhibit of prints by black American artists at International House, 28 Trowbridge, will remain on view for the entire month of February.