Philadelphia Museum of Art Will Display ‘200 Years of African American Art’

In January, the Philadelphia Museum will open “Represent: 200 Years of African American Art,” a sprawling survey of its holdings of works by black artists. Featuring 75 artworks by over 50 artists, the show’s earliest pieces include silhouettes by Moses Williams that date to 1802, pre-Civil War decorative arts by free and enslaved artists, and potter David Drake’s bible-inscribed storage jar sculpture.

The Wall Street Journal reports states the centerpiece of the exhibition is undoubtedly Henry Ossawa Tanner’s 1898 painting titled The Annunciation. Acquired by the museum in 1899, it was the first piece by an African American artist added to its collection. The show traces black artists through many of the major movements in American art history, from Cubism with Aaron Douglas’s Birds in Flight (1927) to Modernism with works by William Henry Johnson and Elizabeth Catlett.   Both can be seen in the figurative painting of Harlem Renaissance artist Jacob Lawrence.

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http://observer.com/2014/12/philadelphia-museum-of-art-will-survey-200-years-of-african-american-artists-in-2015/#ixzz3M5G5PUqf