Heritage Auctions Staging Single-Owner Sale of Nearly 100 Works by African American Artists, Including Sargent Johnson, James Lesesne Wells, and Elizabeth Catlett
UPDATE (10/29/21): This auction has been postponed. Culture Type received the following statement from Heritage Auctions: “Concerns involving the provenance of a handful of lots in ‘The Soul of a Nation: Black Art from a Distinguished Collector’ were recently presented to Heritage Auctions. Out of an abundance of caution, the sale scheduled for Nov....
Hometown Pride: Collectors Ronald and Monique Ollie Donate 81 Works by African American Artists to Saint Louis Art Museum
THE SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM is benefitting from the largesse of a collector who developed an appreciation for art through visiting the institution as a child. Ronald Ollie grew up in St. Louis and was exposed to the museum by his parents. Eventually he became an art collector. Now based in New Jersey, Ollie...
Arts Leader Mary Schmidt Campbell Named President of Spelman College
THE TENTH PRESIDENT of Spelman College is a prominent New York City arts leader who played a pivotal role in sustaining and advancing the Studio Museum in Harlem when the city was on a downturn. Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., has been named president-elect of Spelman, the Atlanta college established in 1881 and recognized today as...
Recommended: New York Times on Lowery Stokes Sims, William Pope.L and Martine Syms
RECOMMENDED FEATURES recently published content from around the web, recommendations from Culture Type worth taking the time to explore: “At Museum of Arts and Design, a Swan Song for Lowery Stokes Sims” | New York Times Lowery Stokes Sims, chief curator at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, is retiring on April...
National Gallery of Art Acquires 190+ Works by African American Artists From Corcoran
CURRENTLY ON VIEW at the National Gallery of Art (NGA), “Into Bondage” by Aaron Douglas hangs in the rear of a three-room gallery dedicated to “masterworks” acquired from the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Depicting a procession of Africans chained and walking toward a pair of distant slave ships, the painting is a landmark acquisition...
‘I Can’t Breathe’ Demonstration Staged at Armory Show
Photo by Victoria L. Valentine YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, A GROUP OF ARTISTS staged a die-in at the Armory Show in New York. About a dozen people chanted “I can’t breathe” and then they fell to the floor at Pier 94 where the international art show has been open to the public since Thursday. According to...
Treadway Toomey Auctioning Works by 74 African American Artists in Chicago
WHILE THE ART WORLD GATHERS IN MIAMI BEACH for Art Basel, those interested in work by African American artists should be attuned to what is happening in Chicago. Tomorrow Treadway Toomey Auctions is offering paintings, drawings, photography and sculpture by 74 black artists. The group includes well-known 20th century figures Charles Alston, Richmond Barthe,...
Culture Talk: Bruce Talamon on Photographing David Hammons
FOUR DECADES AGO, WHILE DAVID HAMMONS was working in his Los Angeles studio making body prints and assemblages, and developing ideas for installations and performances, Bruce W. Talamon was nearby photographing every moment. He says the two met in 1974, shortly before the artist moved to New York. Hammons had already gained some recognition....
On PBS, An Engaging Portrait of Kehinde Wiley
FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, Kehinde Wiley has been painting regal portraits of men of color. First focusing on young African American men in Harlem, Wiley eventually expanded his oeuvre and launched his World Stage series featuring “urban” men in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. His contemporary subjects replicate poses...
The Week in Black Art | Aug. 23 – 29, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Afropunk portraits, Kara Walker, Rashaad Newsome and more Vogue Publishes Afropunk Hair Portraits by Awol Erizku Vogue.com dispatched Awol Erizku to the 10th annual Afropunk Festival in Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn to document the fabulous, natural and architectural hairstyles...
Studio Museum in Harlem Makes Two Major Announcements
EARLIER THIS WEEK, the Studio Museum in Harlem made two major announcements. The storied institution that describes itself as a nexus for artists of African descent has tapped Amanda Hunt (at right) to join its curatorial team. The Philadelphia native will serve as assistant curator, filling a coveted post left vacant when Thomas J. Lax...
Kara Walker Pitcher Elicits a Difference of Opinion
JUXTAPOSITION CAN BE INCREDIBLY ILLUMINATING. Earlier this year, Kara Walker collaborated with Bernardaud and LizWorks to create a limited-edition porcelain pitcher and this week the New York Times asked J. Crew Creative Director Jenna Lyons and singer-songwriter Courtney Love what they thought about it. In a new feature called “Take Two: A Dual Review...
The Week in Black Art | July 26 to Aug. 1, 2014
A REVIEW OF THE WEEK’S NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS IN THE ART WORLD Featuring Franklin Sirmans, Kehinde Wiley, Jacob Lawrence and more Kehinde Wiley Publishes New Catalog of Jamaican Portraits Jamaica is the latest destination on Kehinde Wiley‘s world tour. A master of portraiture, Wiley has traveled to Nigeria, Senegal, Brazil, Israel, Sri Lanka and...
Artist Nick Cave Remembers Gallerist Claude Simard
IN A RECENT ARTNEWS CONVERSATION titled, ‘An Angel That Sits Upon Our Shoulders,’ Nick Cave pays tribute to gallery owner and artist Claude Simard (1956-2014) who died June 24. Simard was a partner in Jack Shainman Gallery, which represents Cave and a number of other prominent black artists including El Anatsui, Barkley Hendricks, Kerry...
