African American Art represents a wide range of African American artists whose works reflect the Black aesthetic and the essence of African Art. It also looks at how black artists struggled for inclusion in society's marketplace of art and survived the imposition of marginal status on them, their art, and their culture.
Dating back as far as colonial times to the present, African American artists have been encouraged and recognized on a very limited basis. Curators and critiques of the art world have rarely regarded early African American themes and expressions of art as big money makers whether they relate to slavery, sharecropping, or ghetto life. Until recently, few African American artists had attained the economic security, understanding and leisure essential to the patronage of artists, while art history books still did not give them adequate recognition. But, in many art history books there are various images of Africa in Egyptian tomb paintings, on vases that are painted to represent the Greeks, in Roman mosaics and ceiling frescos, manuscripts, and Gothic sculptures. The question still remains that if African Americans were subjects in all of the cultural expressions of art, might they have also been established artists during this period?
During colonial times, there were many black artists and crafts people in the 18th century, who did not gain recognition historically. During and after slavery, black men had a gateway to the arts through apprenticeships, which provided them with the opportunity for artistic expression and development of their talents in sculpture, painting and drawing. As black men became skilled artisans and the development of the early economy forged ahead, some black men were able to save money to open up their own businesses and develop their art more steadily. In contrast black female artists were invisible; regardless of their status, they were not allowed to go beyond the boundaries of their household chores and duties. Although there were a few black female artist that did emerge in the mid 19th century, it was well into the twentieth century before their numbers increased and the female artist made a mark on the artistic world.
The first recorded African American artist was Thomas Day. The work that was done by Thomas Day reflects the influence of African art. Day was a freed slave who moved to North Carolina after being educated in Boston and Washington in 1823 and opened up his own studio and crafted furniture. Another known early African American artist was Dave the Potter. Little is known about Dave except that he was the first African American to mark the beginning of a ceramic tradition in African American arts and crafts.
Some emerging African American artists in the 18th centuries discovered that their heritage was still not being recognized in American art. In the mid-1800's Robert Duncanson an early Africa American painter studied with Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School style of painting. He painted romantic landscapes in the style of the Hudson River school, "Blue Hole Flood Waters, Little Miami River" (1851) that depicted a wilderness scene which was familiar to many fugitives from slavery. He also demonstrated his experimentation with and mastery of the Hudson River School style in this painting. Blue Hole Flood Waters, Little Miami River, is considered to be one of the artist's best works. His careful rendering of man and nature serenely joined as one in the natural environment is striking.
Another prominent landscape painter during this time was Edward Bannister. Bannister, Edmonia Lewis, and Henry 0. Tanner, of the mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth century were the artists who dismissed any idea of their artistic inferiority and advanced the tradition in African American painting and sculpture. In 1876 Bannister won one of the highest art prizes at the U.S. Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia. Also at the same time when Banister exhibited at this exposition, Edmonia Lewis exhibited her controversial sculpture "The Death of Cleopatra."
These artists quickly realized their need to be recognized and applauded as professional artists, and decided to start the emulation of very prominent European artists during this time period. Many of the African American artists of this time were trained by various European artists and eventually traveled to Europe and received recognition after their studies, but racism in the society kept them out of the mainstream of the art world. There were some African American artists who were able to overcome the obstacles in their art and continued to gain praise for their work. These artists include Meta Fuller and Aaron Douglas who was very prominent during the Harlem Renaissance.
The turn of the century brought little change in the approach or accomplishments in the form of African American Art. African American artists continued to use the influence they gained from the European style in their theme, and expression. And as a result of the European influence, there were two important events in art that assisted black artists in the move toward their cultural heritage, social and political awareness and visual aesthetics. The first event was the Amory Show in 1913, which included works by various cubist artists, European artists, and modernist painters. The second event was the Harlem Renaissance. These events were the major movements toward social realism and abstract formalism in art that opened up the path of interpretations and expressions in black art. From 1900 until 1920's many black artists continued to imitate European artist because they felt the interest in black art in Europe was more sincere and this is why most black artists traveled there to study. This period is also the era that promoted the Harlem Renaissance after World War I.