James Reuben Reed was a painter born in Kansas City, MO. Depressed is an oil painting of a seated man wearing a tattered gray suit, a hat, and black shoes. He is leaning forward, whiting a piece of wood and looking toward the viewer.
Estella W. Johnson was an artist from New York, NY. Delancey Street, N.Y.C., is a watercolor depiction of a multi-use building in New York. There is a red brick apartment above a storefront with a fire escape. There is also a woman watering plants out of her window.
Wilmer Jennings was a printmaker, painter, and jeweler from Atlanta, GA. Dead Tree depicts a small landscape of a large leafless tree and a barn with a gate. Wilmer’s hatching technique creates a range of both shadows and light throughout the scenery. The tree sitting in the foreground has a dark tone emphasizing it as the main subject.
Henry Wilmer Bannarn was an educator, sculptor, painter, and sketch artist best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. Daywork is a limestone sculpture of a woman doing domestic labor. The female subject appears to be kneading something with raised shoulders.
Lewis E. Stephens was an artist and photographer from Hamden, CT. Country is a landscape painting of a blue mountain ridge and large farm acreage. A tree with few leaves stands in the close foreground, followed by five barns scattered in the distance.
Frederick D. Jones, Jr. is a mid-twentieth-century African-American artist from South Carolina. Concerto is a surrealist depiction of an orchestra’s performance under a cloudy, moonlit sky. In the foreground is a violinist beside ballet shoes and a red ball. Directly behind her is a flutist and dancer. There is also a mask, rope, and yellow scarf.
Jewell Woodard Simon was an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and poet from Houston, TX. City Slums depicts an elevated view of an urban landscape. In the middle ground is a residential area with a skyline in the background. Several people are outside in the neighborhood, including a mother and child and a woman washing clothes.
Romeyn van Vleck Lippman was a 19th-century painter and educator. Church is a portrait of a man and woman with a cathedral in the distance. The woman embraces herself and glances away from the man as he leans toward her. They both wear red cloaks, and the woman wears a white headdress.
John Woodrow Wilson, a sculptor, painter, and printmaker from Roxbury, MA, was known for his creative portraits and stylistic approach to social justice. Church is a cityscape that centers an old steepled church under a cloudy, blue sky. There is a clergyman dressed in red standing in front of the church's entrance.
Richmond Barthe was a sculptor from Bay St. Louis, MS. Christina is a plaster and bronze bust of a woman with a pensive expression mounted on a dark pedestal.
Dr. Eddie Jordan, Sr. was a Southern artist from Wichita Falls, TX. Christ Crowned with Thorns is a metal bust of Jesus with African features. The bust has a metal thorned crowned installed atop it.
John Woodrow Wilson was a sculptor, painter, and printmaker from Roxbury, MA. Child With Father shows a baby wrapped in cloth as large shadowy hands are folded around the baby, making a round, square-like shape.
Guy L. Miller was an artist from Los Angeles, CA. Character is a sculpture of the head of a bearded Black man. His eyes are closed, and he looks as if he is in a deep slumber. The marble sculpture head has a deep black color, invoking fortitude and calm.
John Arterberry was an artist who worked in the art department at Langston University from Tallahassee, FL. Ceres depicts the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, and fertility, looking toward the sun. Ceres wears a crown of wheat stalks and holds a pitchfork in one hand and a bouquet of poppies in the other.
Richard Dempsey was a painter known for his abstractions and portraits of prominent African American leaders from Washington, D.C. Cathedral and Choir is an impressionist depiction of the inside of a church. The yellow brushstrokes create a tall organ alongside stained glass; the layered reds, blues, and black show the congregation and choir.
Leonard Jones was an artist from Winston-Salem, N.C. Cathedral is a cubist depiction of a cathedral and the town surrounding it. Jones uses a variety of light and dark colors that resemble the aesthetic of stained glass.
Hubert C. Taylor was an architect and artist from Kilmarnock, VA. Bus Stop is a non-finito depiction of a bus stop. The piece displays a sign pole with indistinct shapes and shadows surrounding it.
Samuel Albert Countee was a New Negro movement painter and sculptor from Marshall, TX. Brown Girl depicts a nude Black woman in nature. She has a thoughtful expression as she touches the branches that obscure her groin. In the background is a garden scene of pink flowers and lush trees.
Gregory L. Ridley, Jr. was an artist from Smyrna, TN. Brooklyn View is a painting of the nightlife in Brooklyn, New York City during the 60’s. Story top buildings, trains, and street lights painted in layers of red, teal, orange, and black reflect a busy scenery on an open body of water below.
Edward Strickland was an artist, educator, and writer who lived in New York City. Brooklyn View depicts the rooftop perspective of a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. Several buildings with chimneys and spires are in the foreground, and the cityscape continues in the background.
Howard E. Lewis was an Art professor and Korean War veteran from Columbus, OH. Boy with Pet depicts a young man sitting outside with a domesticated chicken. The bird rests in his lap as it sits along a curb in front of a chain link fence.
Robert Blackburn was a notable printmaker from Summit, NJ who grew up in Harlem, NY. Boy with Green Head is a print of a green-headed boy wearing a black shirt with a muted background. The boy is looking at the viewer with a pensive expression.
Houston E. Chandler was a sculptor, printmaker, painter, and teacher from Saint Louis, MO. Boogie Woogie depicts two abstracted figures dancing the Boogie Woogie, a popular dance in the early 20th century.
James Routh, Jr. is a painting and printmaker from Atlanta, GA, by way of New Orleans, LA. Blue Ridge Farm shows a landscape of an acreage with crops, farmers, and a house. The background shows an atmospheric perspective of two mountains and rain clouds. In the foreground, two women dressed in white are picking cotton while a man behind them carries cotton on his back.
John Woodrow Wilson was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and educator from Roxbury, MA. Black Soldier depicts a soldier leaving his family to go to war. The woman and child are holding each other in front of a red brick house under a dark sky; the soldier walks away toward the Statue of Liberty while looking back at his family.
John Woodrow Wilson was a famous painter known for his creative portraits and stylistic approach to social justice. Black Despair shows a Black man in a state of anguish with his arms crossed over his head, facing downward. His right fist sits above his head, and he is wearing a military uniform.
Leonard Cooper was a painter, musician, and piano teacher from Salinas, CA. Before the Rains Came illustrates a rural landscape prior to a rainstorm. It depicts two barns, a thicket of trees, a fenced area, and rolling hills under a dark cloudy sky.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist and educator from Washington, D.C., who repatriated to Mexico. Bather is a bronze sculpture of a woman preparing to bathe. The subject is nude, standing with their head held high with a towel hanging from their arm.
Samella Sanders Lewis was a printmaker, painter, sculptor, and art historian from New Orleans, LA. Barrier is a drawing that depicts the physical and social barriers between groups of people. In the foreground, three women and a boy suspiciously look at a group of townspeople who return their stare from the other side of a barbed wire fence.
