#blackart — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #blackart, aggregated by home.social.
-
Rest in Power, Betye Saar. Artist and activist extraordinaire. Black Liberation. Womanist. She died on Sunday four days before her 100th birthday. 🙏🏿✊🏿
-
Rest in Power, Betye Saar. Artist and activist extraordinaire. Black Liberation. Womanist. She died on Sunday four days before her 100th birthday. 🙏🏿✊🏿
-
Rest in Power, Betye Saar. Artist and activist extraordinaire. Black Liberation. Womanist. She died on Sunday four days before her 100th birthday. 🙏🏿✊🏿
-
Rest in Power, Betye Saar. Artist and activist extraordinaire. Black Liberation. Womanist. She died on Sunday four days before her 100th birthday. 🙏🏿✊🏿
-
Rest in Power, Betye Saar. Artist and activist extraordinaire. Black Liberation. Womanist. She died on Sunday four days before her 100th birthday. 🙏🏿✊🏿
-
By African-American artist Augusta Savage (1892-1962), "Lift Every Voice and Sing, installed at the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. Savage had no room to store it, and it was smashed by bulldozers during the fair’s cleanup despite its popularity. 😢 #art #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistory
The 16 foot tall sculpture depicts 12 Black singers, who represent the strings on a harp, fronted by a Black man holding a sheet of music. "Lift Every Voice and Sing, lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). This hymn has become known as The Negro National Anthem. It begins: “Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list'ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.”
-
By African-American artist Augusta Savage (1892-1962), "Lift Every Voice and Sing, installed at the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. Savage had no room to store it, and it was smashed by bulldozers during the fair’s cleanup despite its popularity. 😢 #art #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistory
The 16 foot tall sculpture depicts 12 Black singers, who represent the strings on a harp, fronted by a Black man holding a sheet of music. "Lift Every Voice and Sing, lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). This hymn has become known as The Negro National Anthem. It begins: “Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list'ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.”
-
By African-American artist Augusta Savage (1892-1962), "Lift Every Voice and Sing, installed at the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. Savage had no room to store it, and it was smashed by bulldozers during the fair’s cleanup despite its popularity. 😢 #art #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistory
The 16 foot tall sculpture depicts 12 Black singers, who represent the strings on a harp, fronted by a Black man holding a sheet of music. "Lift Every Voice and Sing, lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). This hymn has become known as The Negro National Anthem. It begins: “Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list'ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.”
-
By African-American artist Augusta Savage (1892-1962), "Lift Every Voice and Sing, installed at the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. Savage had no room to store it, and it was smashed by bulldozers during the fair’s cleanup despite its popularity. 😢 #art #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistory
The 16 foot tall sculpture depicts 12 Black singers, who represent the strings on a harp, fronted by a Black man holding a sheet of music. "Lift Every Voice and Sing, lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). This hymn has become known as The Negro National Anthem. It begins: “Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list'ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.”
-
By African-American artist Augusta Savage (1892-1962), "Lift Every Voice and Sing, installed at the 1939 World's Fair in NYC. Savage had no room to store it, and it was smashed by bulldozers during the fair’s cleanup despite its popularity. 😢 #art #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistory
The 16 foot tall sculpture depicts 12 Black singers, who represent the strings on a harp, fronted by a Black man holding a sheet of music. "Lift Every Voice and Sing, lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). This hymn has become known as The Negro National Anthem. It begins: “Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list'ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won.”
-
Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Charles White (1918–1979), “General Moses and Sojourner Truth,” 1954, wolff carbon pencil and white chalk over traces of graphite pencil, 27 7/8 in x 38 inches, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, ©The Charles White Archives. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory #drawing
From the museum: ‘Charles White’s 1954 drawing General Moses and Sojourner Truth, represents two famed African American women who fought for equality in different ways. Harriet Tubman is presented in the guise of “General Moses,” grasping a staff like the one Moses used to part the Red Sea. The intellectual nature of Sojourner Truth’s writings and speeches in support of abolitionism and women’s rights is suggested through her upward gaze, in contrast to Tubman’s direct engagement with the viewer.’
-
Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Charles White (1918–1979), “General Moses and Sojourner Truth,” 1954, wolff carbon pencil and white chalk over traces of graphite pencil, 27 7/8 in x 38 inches, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, ©The Charles White Archives. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory #drawing
From the museum: ‘Charles White’s 1954 drawing General Moses and Sojourner Truth, represents two famed African American women who fought for equality in different ways. Harriet Tubman is presented in the guise of “General Moses,” grasping a staff like the one Moses used to part the Red Sea. The intellectual nature of Sojourner Truth’s writings and speeches in support of abolitionism and women’s rights is suggested through her upward gaze, in contrast to Tubman’s direct engagement with the viewer.’
-
Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Charles White (1918–1979), “General Moses and Sojourner Truth,” 1954, wolff carbon pencil and white chalk over traces of graphite pencil, 27 7/8 in x 38 inches, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, ©The Charles White Archives. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory #drawing
From the museum: ‘Charles White’s 1954 drawing General Moses and Sojourner Truth, represents two famed African American women who fought for equality in different ways. Harriet Tubman is presented in the guise of “General Moses,” grasping a staff like the one Moses used to part the Red Sea. The intellectual nature of Sojourner Truth’s writings and speeches in support of abolitionism and women’s rights is suggested through her upward gaze, in contrast to Tubman’s direct engagement with the viewer.’
-
Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Charles White (1918–1979), “General Moses and Sojourner Truth,” 1954, wolff carbon pencil and white chalk over traces of graphite pencil, 27 7/8 in x 38 inches, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, ©The Charles White Archives. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory #drawing
From the museum: ‘Charles White’s 1954 drawing General Moses and Sojourner Truth, represents two famed African American women who fought for equality in different ways. Harriet Tubman is presented in the guise of “General Moses,” grasping a staff like the one Moses used to part the Red Sea. The intellectual nature of Sojourner Truth’s writings and speeches in support of abolitionism and women’s rights is suggested through her upward gaze, in contrast to Tubman’s direct engagement with the viewer.’
-
Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Charles White (1918–1979), “General Moses and Sojourner Truth,” 1954, wolff carbon pencil and white chalk over traces of graphite pencil, 27 7/8 in x 38 inches, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, ©The Charles White Archives. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistory #drawing
From the museum: ‘Charles White’s 1954 drawing General Moses and Sojourner Truth, represents two famed African American women who fought for equality in different ways. Harriet Tubman is presented in the guise of “General Moses,” grasping a staff like the one Moses used to part the Red Sea. The intellectual nature of Sojourner Truth’s writings and speeches in support of abolitionism and women’s rights is suggested through her upward gaze, in contrast to Tubman’s direct engagement with the viewer.’
-
By Grace Lynne Haynes (b. 1992), "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother," cover of The New Yorker, Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 2020. #art #blackartist #blackart #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistory
From the artist (found on the CNN website, dated, August 5, 2020: “My portrait of Truth is based off of existing black-and-white photos of her, but I interpreted them in a playful, modern way. She wears the shawl and cap she was often pictured in, but in vibrant colors and textiles of my own imagination. She sits at a table next to a lively plant rising upwards from a vase while hummingbirds flit around her. I often include hummingbirds in my paintings as a tribute to my grandmother, who grew up in the South and dealt with racism and sexism as a Black woman.”
-
By Grace Lynne Haynes (b. 1992), "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother," cover of The New Yorker, Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 2020. #art #blackartist #blackart #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistory
From the artist (found on the CNN website, dated, August 5, 2020: “My portrait of Truth is based off of existing black-and-white photos of her, but I interpreted them in a playful, modern way. She wears the shawl and cap she was often pictured in, but in vibrant colors and textiles of my own imagination. She sits at a table next to a lively plant rising upwards from a vase while hummingbirds flit around her. I often include hummingbirds in my paintings as a tribute to my grandmother, who grew up in the South and dealt with racism and sexism as a Black woman.”
-
By Grace Lynne Haynes (b. 1992), "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother," cover of The New Yorker, Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 2020. #art #blackartist #blackart #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistory
From the artist (found on the CNN website, dated, August 5, 2020: “My portrait of Truth is based off of existing black-and-white photos of her, but I interpreted them in a playful, modern way. She wears the shawl and cap she was often pictured in, but in vibrant colors and textiles of my own imagination. She sits at a table next to a lively plant rising upwards from a vase while hummingbirds flit around her. I often include hummingbirds in my paintings as a tribute to my grandmother, who grew up in the South and dealt with racism and sexism as a Black woman.”
-
By Grace Lynne Haynes (b. 1992), "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother," cover of The New Yorker, Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 2020. #art #blackartist #blackart #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistory
From the artist (found on the CNN website, dated, August 5, 2020: “My portrait of Truth is based off of existing black-and-white photos of her, but I interpreted them in a playful, modern way. She wears the shawl and cap she was often pictured in, but in vibrant colors and textiles of my own imagination. She sits at a table next to a lively plant rising upwards from a vase while hummingbirds flit around her. I often include hummingbirds in my paintings as a tribute to my grandmother, who grew up in the South and dealt with racism and sexism as a Black woman.”
-
By Grace Lynne Haynes (b. 1992), "Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother," cover of The New Yorker, Aug. 3 & Aug. 10, 2020. #art #blackartist #blackart #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistory
From the artist (found on the CNN website, dated, August 5, 2020: “My portrait of Truth is based off of existing black-and-white photos of her, but I interpreted them in a playful, modern way. She wears the shawl and cap she was often pictured in, but in vibrant colors and textiles of my own imagination. She sits at a table next to a lively plant rising upwards from a vase while hummingbirds flit around her. I often include hummingbirds in my paintings as a tribute to my grandmother, who grew up in the South and dealt with racism and sexism as a Black woman.”
-
By Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), "Harriet Tubman," 1931, oil on canvas, 54 × 72" (137.1 X 182.9 cm), Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. #arthistory #blackhistory #blackhistory #blackart #blackartist #art #painting #oilpainting
From the Camden Civil Rights Project: 'Douglas uses modernist imagery to depict the slave era heroine, Harriet Tubman, who was responsible for leading more than three hundred slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Douglas wrote that he portrayed Tubman "as a heroic leader breaking the shackles of bondage and pressing on toward a new day." Behind her and stretching back symbolically to Africa are the black men and women who toiled and prayed through three hundred years of servitude. "The group of figures to the right... symbolizes the newly liberated people as laborers and heads of families. The last figure symbolizes the dreamer who looks out towards higher and nobler vistas, the modern city, for his race. He represents the preachers, teachers, artists, and musicians of the group. The beam of light that cuts through the center of the picture symbolizes divine inspiration.”’
-
By Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), "Harriet Tubman," 1931, oil on canvas, 54 × 72" (137.1 X 182.9 cm), Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. #arthistory #blackhistory #blackhistory #blackart #blackartist #art #painting #oilpainting
From the Camden Civil Rights Project: 'Douglas uses modernist imagery to depict the slave era heroine, Harriet Tubman, who was responsible for leading more than three hundred slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Douglas wrote that he portrayed Tubman "as a heroic leader breaking the shackles of bondage and pressing on toward a new day." Behind her and stretching back symbolically to Africa are the black men and women who toiled and prayed through three hundred years of servitude. "The group of figures to the right... symbolizes the newly liberated people as laborers and heads of families. The last figure symbolizes the dreamer who looks out towards higher and nobler vistas, the modern city, for his race. He represents the preachers, teachers, artists, and musicians of the group. The beam of light that cuts through the center of the picture symbolizes divine inspiration.”’
-
By Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), "Harriet Tubman," 1931, oil on canvas, 54 × 72" (137.1 X 182.9 cm), Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. #arthistory #blackhistory #blackhistory #blackart #blackartist #art #painting #oilpainting
From the Camden Civil Rights Project: 'Douglas uses modernist imagery to depict the slave era heroine, Harriet Tubman, who was responsible for leading more than three hundred slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Douglas wrote that he portrayed Tubman "as a heroic leader breaking the shackles of bondage and pressing on toward a new day." Behind her and stretching back symbolically to Africa are the black men and women who toiled and prayed through three hundred years of servitude. "The group of figures to the right... symbolizes the newly liberated people as laborers and heads of families. The last figure symbolizes the dreamer who looks out towards higher and nobler vistas, the modern city, for his race. He represents the preachers, teachers, artists, and musicians of the group. The beam of light that cuts through the center of the picture symbolizes divine inspiration.”’
-
By Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), "Harriet Tubman," 1931, oil on canvas, 54 × 72" (137.1 X 182.9 cm), Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. #arthistory #blackhistory #blackhistory #blackart #blackartist #art #painting #oilpainting
From the Camden Civil Rights Project: 'Douglas uses modernist imagery to depict the slave era heroine, Harriet Tubman, who was responsible for leading more than three hundred slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Douglas wrote that he portrayed Tubman "as a heroic leader breaking the shackles of bondage and pressing on toward a new day." Behind her and stretching back symbolically to Africa are the black men and women who toiled and prayed through three hundred years of servitude. "The group of figures to the right... symbolizes the newly liberated people as laborers and heads of families. The last figure symbolizes the dreamer who looks out towards higher and nobler vistas, the modern city, for his race. He represents the preachers, teachers, artists, and musicians of the group. The beam of light that cuts through the center of the picture symbolizes divine inspiration.”’
-
By Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), "Harriet Tubman," 1931, oil on canvas, 54 × 72" (137.1 X 182.9 cm), Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C. #arthistory #blackhistory #blackhistory #blackart #blackartist #art #painting #oilpainting
From the Camden Civil Rights Project: 'Douglas uses modernist imagery to depict the slave era heroine, Harriet Tubman, who was responsible for leading more than three hundred slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. Douglas wrote that he portrayed Tubman "as a heroic leader breaking the shackles of bondage and pressing on toward a new day." Behind her and stretching back symbolically to Africa are the black men and women who toiled and prayed through three hundred years of servitude. "The group of figures to the right... symbolizes the newly liberated people as laborers and heads of families. The last figure symbolizes the dreamer who looks out towards higher and nobler vistas, the modern city, for his race. He represents the preachers, teachers, artists, and musicians of the group. The beam of light that cuts through the center of the picture symbolizes divine inspiration.”’
-
By Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (born in Accra, Ghana; now lives & works in Portland, Oregon), “Akwete," 2021, oil on canvas, 40 × 30 inches (101.6x76.2 cm), Rubell Museum, Miami, ©️ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists
More info on the artist in ALT.
-
By Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (born in Accra, Ghana; now lives & works in Portland, Oregon), “Akwete," 2021, oil on canvas, 40 × 30 inches (101.6x76.2 cm), Rubell Museum, Miami, ©️ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists
More info on the artist in ALT.
-
By Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (born in Accra, Ghana; now lives & works in Portland, Oregon), “Akwete," 2021, oil on canvas, 40 × 30 inches (101.6x76.2 cm), Rubell Museum, Miami, ©️ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists
More info on the artist in ALT.
-
By Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (born in Accra, Ghana; now lives & works in Portland, Oregon), “Akwete," 2021, oil on canvas, 40 × 30 inches (101.6x76.2 cm), Rubell Museum, Miami, ©️ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists
More info on the artist in ALT.
-
By Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe (born in Accra, Ghana; now lives & works in Portland, Oregon), “Akwete," 2021, oil on canvas, 40 × 30 inches (101.6x76.2 cm), Rubell Museum, Miami, ©️ Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists
More info on the artist in ALT.
-
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa, Cliff Joseph, 1968
Yesterday was Juneteenth. I'm glad we're celebrating it, we have a sick history and progress is important to celebrate. Still a lot of progress to be made for all to live free ❤️
#art #blackArt #africanAmericanArt #juneteenth #love #freedom #peace #humans
-
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa, Cliff Joseph, 1968
Yesterday was Juneteenth. I'm glad we're celebrating it, we have a sick history and progress is important to celebrate. Still a lot of progress to be made for all to live free ❤️
#art #blackArt #africanAmericanArt #juneteenth #love #freedom #peace #humans
-
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa, Cliff Joseph, 1968
Yesterday was Juneteenth. I'm glad we're celebrating it, we have a sick history and progress is important to celebrate. Still a lot of progress to be made for all to live free ❤️
#art #blackArt #africanAmericanArt #juneteenth #love #freedom #peace #humans
-
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa, Cliff Joseph, 1968
Yesterday was Juneteenth. I'm glad we're celebrating it, we have a sick history and progress is important to celebrate. Still a lot of progress to be made for all to live free ❤️
#art #blackArt #africanAmericanArt #juneteenth #love #freedom #peace #humans
-
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa, Cliff Joseph, 1968
Yesterday was Juneteenth. I'm glad we're celebrating it, we have a sick history and progress is important to celebrate. Still a lot of progress to be made for all to live free ❤️
#art #blackArt #africanAmericanArt #juneteenth #love #freedom #peace #humans
-
“Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life.”
Ficre Ghebreyesus (b. 1962, Eritrea)
http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/artist-statement -
“Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life.”
Ficre Ghebreyesus (b. 1962, Eritrea)
http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/artist-statement -
“Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life.”
Ficre Ghebreyesus (b. 1962, Eritrea)
http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/artist-statement -
“Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life.”
Ficre Ghebreyesus (b. 1962, Eritrea)
http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/artist-statement -
“Painting was the miracle, the final act of defiance through which I exorcised the pain and reclaimed my sense of place, my moral compass, and my love for life.”
Ficre Ghebreyesus (b. 1962, Eritrea)
http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/artist-statement -
After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison.
Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami)
“coming forth by day”
Peréz Art Museum Miami -
After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison.
Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami)
“coming forth by day”
Peréz Art Museum Miami -
After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison.
Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami)
“coming forth by day”
Peréz Art Museum Miami -
After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison.
Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami)
“coming forth by day”
Peréz Art Museum Miami -
After I left this exhibit, everything else looked gray by comparison.
Woody DeOthello (b. 1991, Miami)
“coming forth by day”
Peréz Art Museum Miami -
By African American artist Romare Bearden (1911−1988), Guitar Magic, 1986, collage & watercolor on board, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. © 2025 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #collage
From the Bearden Foundation: ‘Bearden takes us backstage to the glamour, grit, and grace of Black performance. Bearden understood that jazz wasn’t just sound. It was a repository of memory—a form of Black historical consciousness. The improvisational nature of jazz mirrored the adaptability required of Black Americans, who had to continuously remake identity and community in the face of change and displacement. Much of Bearden’s art functions the same way. His collages are full of migrating trains, front porches, street corners, and jukeboxes—images loaded with the weight of history. In these works, jazz becomes a stand-in for cultural endurance. He once said, “The artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.” Bearden devoured both visual and musical traditions, then recombined them in ways that felt utterly new.’
-
By African American artist Romare Bearden (1911−1988), Guitar Magic, 1986, collage & watercolor on board, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. © 2025 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #collage
From the Bearden Foundation: ‘Bearden takes us backstage to the glamour, grit, and grace of Black performance. Bearden understood that jazz wasn’t just sound. It was a repository of memory—a form of Black historical consciousness. The improvisational nature of jazz mirrored the adaptability required of Black Americans, who had to continuously remake identity and community in the face of change and displacement. Much of Bearden’s art functions the same way. His collages are full of migrating trains, front porches, street corners, and jukeboxes—images loaded with the weight of history. In these works, jazz becomes a stand-in for cultural endurance. He once said, “The artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.” Bearden devoured both visual and musical traditions, then recombined them in ways that felt utterly new.’
-
By African American artist Romare Bearden (1911−1988), Guitar Magic, 1986, collage & watercolor on board, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. © 2025 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #collage
From the Bearden Foundation: ‘Bearden takes us backstage to the glamour, grit, and grace of Black performance. Bearden understood that jazz wasn’t just sound. It was a repository of memory—a form of Black historical consciousness. The improvisational nature of jazz mirrored the adaptability required of Black Americans, who had to continuously remake identity and community in the face of change and displacement. Much of Bearden’s art functions the same way. His collages are full of migrating trains, front porches, street corners, and jukeboxes—images loaded with the weight of history. In these works, jazz becomes a stand-in for cultural endurance. He once said, “The artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.” Bearden devoured both visual and musical traditions, then recombined them in ways that felt utterly new.’
-
By African American artist Romare Bearden (1911−1988), Guitar Magic, 1986, collage & watercolor on board, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. © 2025 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #collage
From the Bearden Foundation: ‘Bearden takes us backstage to the glamour, grit, and grace of Black performance. Bearden understood that jazz wasn’t just sound. It was a repository of memory—a form of Black historical consciousness. The improvisational nature of jazz mirrored the adaptability required of Black Americans, who had to continuously remake identity and community in the face of change and displacement. Much of Bearden’s art functions the same way. His collages are full of migrating trains, front porches, street corners, and jukeboxes—images loaded with the weight of history. In these works, jazz becomes a stand-in for cultural endurance. He once said, “The artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.” Bearden devoured both visual and musical traditions, then recombined them in ways that felt utterly new.’
-
By African American artist Romare Bearden (1911−1988), Guitar Magic, 1986, collage & watercolor on board, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. © 2025 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society. #art #blackart #blackartist #blackartists #collage
From the Bearden Foundation: ‘Bearden takes us backstage to the glamour, grit, and grace of Black performance. Bearden understood that jazz wasn’t just sound. It was a repository of memory—a form of Black historical consciousness. The improvisational nature of jazz mirrored the adaptability required of Black Americans, who had to continuously remake identity and community in the face of change and displacement. Much of Bearden’s art functions the same way. His collages are full of migrating trains, front porches, street corners, and jukeboxes—images loaded with the weight of history. In these works, jazz becomes a stand-in for cultural endurance. He once said, “The artist has to be something like a whale, swimming with his mouth wide open, absorbing everything until he has what he really needs.” Bearden devoured both visual and musical traditions, then recombined them in ways that felt utterly new.’
-
CW: I make awesome collages too!
The collage "Soft not Docile" is up on the shop! :blobcatsurprised:
Inspired by this Langston Hughes poem:
W͟a͟r͟n͟i͟n͟g͟Negroes,
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble and kind:
Beware the day
They change their mind!
Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle Breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!Get prints here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b8a69c94e0
Support Black artists on Fedi!
#BlackArt #FeedBlackArtists #Kofi #BlackArtistsOnFedi #BlackArtOnMastodon
#poetry #LangstonHughes #BlackPoets -
CW: I make awesome collages too!
The collage "Soft not Docile" is up on the shop! :blobcatsurprised:
Inspired by this Langston Hughes poem:
W͟a͟r͟n͟i͟n͟g͟Negroes,
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble and kind:
Beware the day
They change their mind!
Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle Breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!Get prints here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b8a69c94e0
Support Black artists on Fedi!
#BlackArt #FeedBlackArtists #Kofi #BlackArtistsOnFedi #BlackArtOnMastodon
#poetry #LangstonHughes #BlackPoets -
CW: I make awesome collages too!
The collage "Soft not Docile" is up on the shop! :blobcatsurprised:
Inspired by this Langston Hughes poem:
W͟a͟r͟n͟i͟n͟g͟Negroes,
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble and kind:
Beware the day
They change their mind!
Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle Breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!Get prints here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b8a69c94e0
Support Black artists on Fedi!
#BlackArt #FeedBlackArtists #Kofi #BlackArtistsOnFedi #BlackArtOnMastodon
#poetry #LangstonHughes #BlackPoets -
CW: I make awesome collages too!
The collage "Soft not Docile" is up on the shop! :blobcatsurprised:
Inspired by this Langston Hughes poem:
W͟a͟r͟n͟i͟n͟g͟Negroes,
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble and kind:
Beware the day
They change their mind!
Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle Breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!Get prints here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b8a69c94e0
Support Black artists on Fedi!
#BlackArt #FeedBlackArtists #Kofi #BlackArtistsOnFedi #BlackArtOnMastodon
#poetry #LangstonHughes #BlackPoets -
By Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014), “Carmen,” oil on masonite board, ca. 1960, 47 1/2 x 36 in. (120.7 x 91.4 cm.), photo: Swann Auction Galleries, April 2, 2026. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #painting #oilpainting
From the auction listing: “Geoffrey Holder was born in Trinidad in 1930 and moved to New York City in 1952 after being invited to teach choreography at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance. By 1954, he had his first successful one-man show in New York at the Barone Gallery and won a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts in 1956. Despite his talent as a painter, Holder is best known as an actor and dancer. He was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet from 1955-56. He also had many roles as an actor and was featured in such movies as Doctor Dolittle (1967), Live and Let Die (1973), and 7 Up commercials. He was also a costume designer for Prodigal Prince (1967), The Wizard of Oz (1975), and Firebird (1982). His artwork has been exhibited at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Museum of the City of New York, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, and the Barbados Museum.”
