Testimony: Vernacular
Art of the
African American South
The Ronald and June Shelp Collection
by Editors:
Kinshasha Conwill, Arthur C. Danto,
Grey Gundaker, Edmund Barry Gaither,
Judith M. McWillie
Souls Grown Deep:
African American
Vernacular of the South - -
The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf
by Editors: Paul
Arnett and
William Arnett and the
Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture Click to
The
History of Black art and African American Art Part 2, Julien Hudson continued
own
likeness survives. He painted the earliest known self-portrait by a black
artist. Like Johnson
there are sketchy details about his life. What is known is that he opened
an art studio in New Orleans in 1831. Hudson studied in Paris. Hudson,
a fair complexioned black living in tolerate New Orleans, also painted
the battle of New Orleans in 1815. This Painting focuses on the commander
of a corps of free Black militiamen that fought on the American side.
Black
Art and African American Art in the Northern States in the 1800s.
Changing
our focus to Northern Blacks, a Philadelphia located black artist Robert
Douglass, a freeman used his art for social purposes - the abolitionist
movement. Douglass produced portraits of leading figures of the movement.
"Black
Artist does
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln"
Douglass'
life was challenged by racism in America and therefore he spent most of
his life abroad, until he died in 1887 at 87 years of age. Douglass' cousin
David Bustill Bowser, was also an African American artist, who made a
living doing other things, but later became an noteworthy artist. He later
did two paintings of Abraham Lincoln, one of which Lincoln actually sat
for.
"Patrick
Reason using Black Art and
African American Art to end Slavery"
Another
early African American artist was Patrick Reason. Born in 1817, Patrick
Reason's trades were engraving and lithography. Reason attended New York
City's African Free School. Through abolitionist connections, he was apprenticed
to a white engraver. He first achieved recognition, at the age 13 by designing
the frontispiece of a history of the African Free School. His connection
with the antislavery movement became stronger once he went into engraving
and also began making portraits of leading abolitionists.
Reason
gained renown by engraving a copy of the emblem of the British antislavery
movement, which as a symbol, was widely used in the U. S. at the time.
Next we will look at the contribution of artist Jules Lions.
"Jules
Lions, Black Entrepreneur and African American Artist takes Black Art
and
African American Art in New Directions"
After
a Frenchman, named Louis J. M. Daquerre, invented a practical photographic
technique called daguerreotypes in 1839, soon the images became very popular
in the United States. Shortly thereafter, a black Artist Jules Lion, became
a pioneer of this new art medium. Little is known of his early life except
that he was born in 1810 in France. At 21 he was the youngest artist to
be exhibited in the annual show in Paris called the Salon des Artistes
Francais. In 1836, he emigrated to New Orleans, and thereafter opened
an art studio. In New Orleans he painted portraits for City Leaders and
also produced lithographs of its architecture.
Lions,
had a knack for new opportunities. Therefore, within a year after the
daguerreotype had been perfected, the young artist was praised for producing
"the first specimens of drawings by the daguerreotype we have seen."
Later in the same quote in the New Orleans Bee of that period, the paper
stated "Nothing can be more truly beautiful" speaking of his
work. Lion's later had financial problems in 1844 and 1845 and therefore,
had to sell his possessions. Today only a few of his lithographs and a
single portrait exists.
"The
First African Artist to Gain
National and International Acclaim"
It was during this time a budding artistic genius became the first black
artist to gain national and International acclaim.
Carols Art Shows, Essex
County New Jersey 07042. Showcasing the Artwork of Today's Black Artist.
Call Toll Free: 1-866-324-9669| For research and art appreciation great-
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