Black History Month

Famous Black artists

Henry Ossawa Tanner

• Born in Pennsylvania 1859 Died May 25, 1937

• first African-American painter to gain international acclaim

• Painted realism• His early paintings

depicted everyday life, later he began creating religious paintings

Henry Ossawa TannerThe Banjo Lesson1893

The Annunciation1898

Jean-Michel Basquiat

• Born in New York in 1960 died at age 27 in 1988

• He was Haitian American

• He was a Graffiti artist, Street artist, and Neo-expressionist (portraying recognizable objects, such as the human body (although sometimes in an abstract manner), in a rough and violently emotional way using vivid colors)

Jean-Michael BasquiatUntitled1984

Untitled1981

Kara Walker

• Born in CA 1969• Contemporary artist• explores race, gender,

sexuality, violence and identity in her work

• Best known for her room sized black cut paper silhouettes

Kara Walker

Cut

Means to an End1995

William H. Johnson

• born in 1901 in Florence, South Carolina

• Johnson was a “Folk” artist– Painting with bright

colors and two dimensional figures

• In late 1930, Johnson moved to Denmark and married

William H. Johnson

• The increasing threat of World War II and growing Nazism led the interracial couple to move to New York in 1938.

• Unfortunately living as an interracial couple in the U.S was not easy either

William H. Johnson

• Fortunately, he artistic community of Harlem, New York, which had become more enlightened and experimental embraced the couple.

William H. Johnson

• In 1942, just one year after Johnsons biggest art show, a fire destroyed his studio, leaving his artwork and supplies reduced to ashes.

• Two years later, in 1944, Johnson's beloved wife of 14 years, died of breast cancer.

• Johnson died in 1970