The Black Modernist Canon in the Atlanta University Annuals
Title
The Black Modernist Canon in the Atlanta University Annuals
Date Modified
2025-10-10
Description
The Atlanta University Annuals, originally known as the Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Negro Artists in America, was an annual juried art competition designed for Black diasporic artists, held at Atlanta University from 1942 to 1970. The winning pieces from the Annuals competition were accessioned into the art collection of Atlanta University and comprise the foundation of the CAU Art Museum's permanent collection. Black artists who were creating and being collected between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries are identified as Black Modernists. The art produced during the Modernist period often reflected on the historical and contemporary status of Black people in the United States, while also incorporating Black perspectives from various people around the world. Select artists from the Black Modernist canon in the Atlanta University Annuals introduce the Black Modernist era through award-winning pieces that showcase the diverse themes, styles, and forms with which 20th-century Black artists engaged. The Black Modernism Canon in the CAUAM Permanent Collection provides a list of Black Modernist artists who competed in the Annuals, or whose works have been donated to the CAUAM permanent collection.
Curated By
Shyheim Williams
Contributing Institution
Clark Atlanta University
About This Record
The HCAC public history focused digital archive cataloging is an ongoing process, and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. We welcome your comments and feedback if you have more information to share about an item featured on the site, please contact us at: HCAC-DigiTeam@si.edu
Born in Chicago, Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to Black subjects. Youth is a lithograph portrait of a young man looking into a far-off distance. Cross-hatching contrasts shadow and light across the young man’s face.
David Driskell was a Black artist, scholar, and curator known for his culmination of African abstract forms and modern aesthetics from Eatonton, GA. Young Pines Growing is an abstraction of a pine tree against a light blue background. The dispersed tree displays a texture similar to stained-glass using dimensional greens.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Young Mother is a ceramic sculpture of a hooded woman looking off into the distance away from the viewer.
John T. Biggers was an educator, painter, and muralist from Gastonia, NC. Young Mother depicts a woman breastfeeding her baby. The seated woman is wearing a nightgown and kerchief while caring for the baby. The baby wears a onesie as he feeds from his mother. Various people are outside the windows of the wooden homes.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist and educator from Washington, D.C., who repatriated to Mexico. Young Girl is a Terra-Cotta bust of a Black female. It shows Catlett's sculptural skill with sharp details from the subject's hair texture to her expression.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Woman with Kerchief is a terracotta sculpture of a Black woman with her head covered by a tied kerchief.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. We Have Seen His Face is a ceramic bust of a hooded woman with her head raised. The subject holds a reverent expression as she looks toward God.
Lois Mailou Jones was an artist and art educator known for her costumes, textile designs, watercolors, paintings, and collages from Washington, D.C. Voodoo Worshippers, Haiti, is a watercolor scene of three Haitian Voodoo practitioners around four candles under a full moon. Jones places colorful shapes behind black brushstrokes that create depth.
Lois Mailou Jones was an artist and art educator from Washington, D.C., known for her costumes, textile designs, watercolors, paintings, and collages. Ville d'Houdain, France, is a landscape painting depicting a community in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region.
Hayward Oubre was a multimedia artist and educator from New Orleans, LA. Verily, I Say Unto You depicts a modern portrait of a Black Jesus. Jesus is drawn with an elongated nose with wide nostrils, large eyes, pursed lips, locs, and a raised finger.
William H. Johnson was a painter from Florence, SC. Untitled Folk Scene depicts a couple doing a wide variety of dances within the Southern Jazz tradition. In this iteration of the series, a dapper man dips an equally stylish woman as instruments play around them.
Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to African American subjects from Chicago, IL Two Alone is a painting of a man embracing a woman as they stand in front of a window. The woman stands, arms crossed, leaning into the man who looks into the distance and above her head.
Samella Sanders Lewis was a printmaker, painter, sculptor, and art historian from New Orleans, LA. Trapper's Rest depicts a fishing pier at night. Two boats, fishing equipment, and a pier lodge, which fishermen often use for rest and storage, are positioned alongside the pier.
John Woodrow Wilson was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and educator from Roxbury, MA. Trabajador is a black-and-white depiction of a Black bricklayer working at a construction site. The bricklayer is wearing a ten-gallon hat and overalls and holding bricks as he uses a trowel. There are steel beams in the background.
Charles White was a Black draftsman, printmaker, and painter who illustrated the Southern Black struggle. To the Future shows a Black woman standing cross-armed in front of hills and barren trees; she is scaled more significantly than the landscape. It speaks to African Americans being bigger than their past and a tradition of looking forward.
Hale Aspacio Woodruff was an artist and art educator known for his murals, paintings, and prints from Cairo, IL. The Yellow Bird is a cubist depiction of a yellow bird perched on a Black girl’s hand. The girl wears a blue dress with multicolored ribbons hanging from her hair.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. The Quiet One is a limestone sculpture depicting an introverted person. The figure has their head resting on their knees as their hands hold their knees to their chest, displaying a posture of solitude and isolation.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. The Pugilist is a limestone sculpture of a Black boxer. Artis chiseled immense detail into the sculpture, capturing the intensity of his expression and hair texture.
Frederick C. Flemister was an artist from Jackson, GA. The Mourners is an expressionist painting that portrays a group of Black people mourning a lynching victim. It emulates the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion, showing two veiled women holding the victim while three others mourn separately. There is a cut noose hanging from a tree in the background.
Howard E. Lewis was an Art professor and Korean War veteran from Columbus, OH. The Family is a freestanding Plaster sculpture of a family in an embrace. The father towers over his wife and child, looking down at them as his wife leans into his chest and their son into hers.
Richmond Barthe was a sculptor from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The Angry Christ is an intensely expressive bust of Christ. The bust is incredibly detailed, emphasizing Jesus of Nazareth's Semitic features.
David Driskell was a Black artist, scholar, and curator known for his fusion of African abstract forms and modern aesthetics. Still Life is an abstract print of inanimate kitchen objects. It features a bowl of fruit, plates of food, vases of flowers, and other objects atop a table.
Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to African American subjects from Chicago, IL. Solid as a Rock is a print of the profile of a robed Black man. The barefoot man is holding on to his robe with his left and hides his right hand.
Hayward Oubre was a multimedia artist and educator from New Orleans, LA. His etching Silent Sentinel, created during his MFA at the University of Iowa, reflects his interrogation of social realism and cultural symbology.
Hayward Oubre was a multimedia artist and educator from New Orleans, LA. Self Portrait is an etching of the artist from the shoulders up. His neck, shoulders, ears, and mouth are etched lightly, while his hair, eyebrows, eyes, and mustache are dark and etched deeply.
Frederick C. Flemister, native to Jackson, GA, was a student of Hale A. Woodruff at Atlanta University in the 1940s. Self-Portrait is an impressionistic piece depicting Flemister preparing to paint. He is standing in front of a canvas while holding a paintbrush in his left hand and a palette in his right.
Hayward Oubre was a multimedia artist and educator from New Orleans, LA. Seated Woman is a sculpture of a bodacious woman with a solemn expression. Her right arm is crossed over her chest, and her left arm hangs between her legs.
John Woodrow Wilson was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and educator from Roxbury, MA. Roxbury Rooftops depicts an urbanscape from the perspective of the rooftops. The buildings closest to the viewer are shown in hues of red, orange, and yellow. Buildings further away are more brown, green, and gray.
John Woodrow Wilson, a sculptor, painter, and printmaker from Roxbury, MA, was known for his creative portraits and stylistic approach to social justice. Roxbury Landscape shows a gated park under a blue, white, and yellow sky. Behind other buildings, there is a tall church and a courtyard with bare trees, depicting Autumn in Wilson’s hometown.
Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs was an artist, historian, teacher, and writer from St. Rose, LA. Ribbon Man: Mexico City Market is a watercolor scene of a mother buying ribbons for her children. The ribbon seller joyously sells his colorful ribbons in the middle of a market in Mexico City, MX.
