Celebrating African American Art Throughout the Year, 2025 Calendars Focus on Richard Mayhew, Alma Thomas, Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Feature Barkley Hendricks
THE POWERFUL PORTRAITS of Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) are in a category of their own. Key elements characterize the late artist’s paintings, including his masterful use of color. “Miss Brown To You” (1970) by Hendricks, pictures his subject wearing a red top against a red background. When he employed this stylized approach, Hendricks described the...
What to Look Forward to in 2024: 30 Exhibitions, Books, and Events Focused on African American Artists
THE YEAR AHEAD is brimming with unprecedented opportunities to explore the work of historic and contemporary artists. Among the most anticipated are landmark surveys of Sargent Claude Johnson, the first Black artist active in California to gain national renown, and Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, the first woman of color to graduate from the Rhode Island School...
Culture Type: The 13 Best Black Art Books of 2023
The Best Black Art Books of 2023 explore the work of Simone Leigh, Benjamin Wigfall, Kerry James Marshall, Hughie Lee-Smith, Dalton Paula, William Edmondson, and more A GLORIOUS TRIBUTE and essential overview, “Simone Leigh” is the first publication to document the singular artist’s practice, which focuses on sculpture and centers Black female subjectivity. The catalogue...
Culture Type Gift Guide 2023: Celebrate the Holidays with 50 Great Finds Inspired by Leading African American Artists
THE GRAPHIC QUILT DESIGNS of Gee’s Bend artists inspired a new line of upholstered furniture available exclusively from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Studio Museum in Harlem recently added new items to its Barkley L. Hendricks Collection. Interior designer Sheila Bridges continues to expand the line of products featuring her clever Harlem Toile de...
Auction Records: At Sotheby’s, Julie Mehretu, Barbara Chase-Riboud, and Barkley L. Hendricks Reach New Heights, Major Kerry James Marshall Painting Finds One Bidder
BLACK FEMALE ARTISTS had a great night at Sotheby’s New York. “Walkers With the Dawn and Morning” (2008), an intense storm of hazy grays by Julie Mehretu, set a historic new artist record, pushing the her high mark to more than $10.7 million. Pioneering sculptor Barbara Chase-Riboud also achieved a record result and young British...
Auction Results: Robert Colescott Painting Hits $3.9M at Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale, New Record Set by Young British Painter Jadé Fadojutimi
Lot 10A: ROBERT COLESCOTT (1925-2009), “Eat dem Taters,” 1975 (acrylic on canvas, 59 x 79 inches / 149.9 x 200.7 cm). | Estimate $2 million-$3 million. SOLD for $3,922,000 fees included PAINTINGS BY SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT and promising Black artists on the radar of collectors and institutions were among the offerings in...
What to See in U.S. Museums This Summer: 15 Solo Exhibitions Featuring Black Artists – Simone Leigh, James Barnor, Ming Smith, Whitfield Lovell, Gary Simmons & More
SOME OF THE SUMMER’S BEST U.S. museum exhibitions are on view beyond the art capitals of New York and Los Angeles. Landmark solo exhibitions of an inter-generational slate of prominent Black artists can be seen in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and many cities in between. The first museum survey of photographer Ming Smith is...
Barkley L. Hendricks Was a Powerful Portrait Painter Whose Exceptional Photography Practice is Coming to Light
BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS, “Untitled,” circa 1975 (gelatin silver print, 16 x 24 inches, image); 16 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches, framed). | © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy the Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS (1945-2017) had an incredible eye. His latest gallery exhibition...
Culture Type: The Month in Black Art, Here’s What Happened in March 2023
Highlights of March news and announcements include Brooke A. Minto’s appointment to lead Columbus Museum of Art, passing of artist and master printer Lou Stovall, Derrick Adams joining Gagosian gallery, Colette Veasey-Cullors named dean of International Center of Photography School, plus awards for Carrie Mae Weems, Adrian Piper, Faith Ringgold, and Sharon Farmer ...
Holiday Gift Guide 2022: Great Finds Inspired by African American Artists, From Barkley L. Hendricks to Faith Ringgold, Henry Taylor, Kehinde Wiley & More
CRITICALLY RECOGNIZED African American artists are introducing their work to wider audiences through accessible products and design objects sold at museums, galleries, and other outlets. Major exhibitions of Faith Ringgold, Henry Taylor, and Nick Cave this year have inspired skateboard decks, hoodies, boxed note cards, and fine china plates. Artist Kehinde Wiley’s online shop...
Latest News in Black Art: James D. Thornton Elected Board Chair at Baltimore Museum of Art, Frick Will Show Barkley Hendricks Portraits, Getty Images Releases Black History & Culture Collection & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Appointments THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) elected James D. Thornton chair of the museum’s 36-member board. Thornton is the first Black person and first person of color to lead...
Latest News in Black Art: Late Artist Winfred Rembert Wins Pulitzer, Barkley L. Hendricks and Wangechi Mutu Acquisitions, Plus Rome Prize Recipients & More
Latest News in Black Art features news updates and developments in the world of art and related culture Winfred Rembert won a Pulitzer Prize for “Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South,” as told to Erin I. Kelly. | Photo by Renan Ozturk Awards & Honors...
Major Artworks by Romare Bearden, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Amy Sherald, Stanley Whitney, Jacob Lawrence & More Highlighted at ‘Evening’ Auctions in New York
IN NEW YORK, MAJOR AUCTION HOUSES lined up a variety of significant works by critically recognized Black artists for their modern and contemporary art Evening Auctions, with estimates ranging from the high six figures to multiple millions. Several lots carried estimates that if reached would result in new artist records at auction. The premium...
Eclipsing $4 Million, Barkley L. Hendricks Painting ‘Mr. Johnson (Sammy From Miami)’ Sets New Auction Record at Sotheby’s
A RECORD BREAKER opened the Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale conducted by Sotheby’s New York last week. The first lot was a 1972 portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017). His subject in “Mr. Johnson (Sammy From Miami)” wears a football jersey and a red visor atop a vertically impressive afro. He’s holding...
Amy Sherald Painting Skyrockets to Record-Setting $4.2 Million at Phillips, Works by 4 More Black Artists Set New Benchmarks
A DOUBLE PORTRAIT by Amy Sherald set an astronomic new auction record Dec. 7 at Phillips New York. “The Bathers” (2015) soared to $4,265,000 against a low-six figure estimate of $150,000-$200,000. The painting sold for about 20 times its high estimate with bidding ongoing for 15 minutes. “The Bathers” was the first lot in...
Decade After Portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks Sold for $48,000 at Swann Auction, Sotheby’s is Asking More Than $2 Million
A PAINTING MADE 45 YEARS AGO by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) is being offered next week at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Day Auction in New York. “Jackie Sha-La-La (Jackie Cameron)” (1975) is a seated portrait of a female subject. The painting sold for $48,000 (fees included) at Swann Auction Galleries in 2010. A decade later,...
Contemporary Curated: Works by Kerry James Marshall and Barkley L. Hendricks Top Sotheby’s Sale, New Auction Records for Titus Kaphar, Romare Bearden, Simone Leigh
WORKS BY AN ECLECTIC MIX of artists were offered at Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction on Oct. 2 in New York. Important figures from the second half of the 20th century were featured alongside today’s most critically recognized contemporary artists. Five African American artists were ranked among the 10 top-10 highest-priced works by Kerry James...
New in 2020: African American Art Books Explore the Work of Ming Smith, Noah Davis, Horace Pippin, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and More
DOZENS OF PUBLICATIONS documenting the work of artists of African descent are scheduled to be published this year. Volumes dedicated to Noah Davis, Jordan Casteel, and Zanele Muholi coincide with major first-time exhibitions. Others are long-awaited volumes surveying the careers of established artists, such as Ming Smith, Samuel Fosso, and Richard Mayhew. The monographs...
A Masterful Portrait Painter, Barkley L. Hendricks Produced an Early Series of Basketball Paintings Grounded in Abstraction
“Father, Son, and…” (1969) by Barkley L. Hendricks ONE OF THE BIG DRAWS at the Jack Shainman booth at Frieze Los Angeles last month was a triptych by Barkley L. Hendricks (1945-2017) called “Father, Son,…” Given the title and the artist’s renown for making masterful portraits that convey his subject’s cool style and mien,...
Backstory: Art Collector Kenneth Montague on Acquiring ‘Blood (Donald Formey),’ the 1975 Painting by Barkley L. Hendricks
“Blood (Donald Formey),” 1975 by Barkley L. Hendricks “I’m most concerned about Barkley’s legacy now that he’s gone. I want more and more people to understand what all the hoopla’s about. He was a master painter and this is one of his greatest works.” — Collector Kenneth Montague IF YOU VISIT the Brooklyn...
