Wednesday, October 26, 2011

PAST: ART: "African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond" at the Smithsonian American Art Museum FRI, April 27th - MON, Sept 3rd, Free

Jacob Lawrence, Bar and Grill, 1941, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design
African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Free
On view Friday, April 27th - Monday, September 3rd

Note: This museum is in Chinatown and is open from 11:30am - 7:00pm daily

"African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond presents a selection of paintings, sculpture, prints, and photographs by forty-three black artists who explored the African American experience from the Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights era and the decades beyond, which saw tremendous social and political changes. All 100 artworks in the exhibition are drawn entirely from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s rich collection of African American art. More than half of the featured works are being exhibited by the museum for the first time, and ten works are recent acquisitions. The exhibition includes fifty-four photographs, which are incorporated into the display while also organizing the exhibition thematically."

"The artists work in styles as varied as documentary realism, abstraction, and postmodern assemblage of found objects to address a diverse array of subjects.Robert McNeill, Richmond Barthé, and Benny Andrews speak to the dignity and resilience of people who work the land. Jacob Lawrence, Roy DeCarava, andThornton Dial, Sr. acknowledge the struggle for economic and civil rights. Sargent Johnson, Loïs Mailou Jones, and Melvin Edwards address the heritage of Africa, and images by Romare Bearden recast Christian themes in terms of black experience. James Porter and Alma Thomas explore beauty in the natural world."


View a slide show and commentabout the exhibition! Buy the book. Go behind-the-scenes with the museum's conservators on SAAM's blog Eye Level. Read reviews and articles about the exhibition
Explore a free educational website about teaching African American Civil Rights. Download the full exhibition checklist of artworks and artists.


Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th & F St, NW
Exhibit is on the first floor, West
Metro: Gallery Pl - Chinatown

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