African American artists

W.E.B. Du Bois’ message to African American artists.

Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton lived an unapologetic life that transcended genres and gender norms beyond her bluesy hit song and the “Elvis moment.”

A museum dedicated to techno music has opened in Frankfurt, Germany, and many genre pioneers feel that Black and queer artists in Detroit have been overlooked.

Written during World War II, Bungleton Green and the Mystic Commandos imagined a future liberated from racism and inequality.

What will be the legacy of the Black Arts Movement? Ishmael Reed reflects on the transformation and growth of Black arts since the 1960s.

“I am one who tells the truth and exposes evil and seeks with Beauty and for Beauty to set the world right,” W.E.B. Du Bois said in his June 1926 lecture.

What did German listeners hear when African American singers performed Schubert or Brahms?

Despite its universalist claims, the field is reckoning with a long legacy of racial exclusion.

Artists, museums and other groups are vying to claim fallen monuments from the Jim Crow era — but for very different reasons.

A collector’s keen eye — and willingness to knock on a stranger’s door — led to the rediscovery of a sculpture by a renowned stone carver, William Edmondson.

The career and legacy of a Black critic who argued for the elevation of Black performance.

All along the way, his eye is trained on moments of calm, locating an inherent grace, style, and sublime beauty in the Black everyday.

Poetic jars by David Drake are setting records at auction and starring in art museums, showcasing the artistry of enslaved African Americans.

Ralph Ellison’s classic 1952 novel has influenced not just writers but photographers, sculptors and painters, all grappling with what it means to be seen.

Colescott satirizes an iconic painting of George Washington, and in doing so, challenges the viewer to reconsider their beliefs about American history.

William Edmondson and other self-taught artists remind us of how genius somehow finds a way.

At the dawn of the Harlem Renaissance, Augusta Savage fought racism to earn acclaim as a sculptor. But the path she forged is also her legacy.

It's about the satirical tradition of 'going there.'

In the 1960s, abstract painting was a controversial style for Black artists, overshadowed by social realist works.

Jacob Lawrence was one of twentieth-century America’s most celebrated black artists.