This itemset features artworks from the University Museum at Texas Southern's collections that were created by non-TSU artists. While the majority of the museum's holdings are from Texas Southern students, alumni, and faculty, there are also artworks in the museum's collections that were created by unaffiliated artists that were donated to the museum.
Curated By
Ben Schachter
Contributing Institution
Texas Southern University
Identifier
HCAC.TSU.IS.007
Rights
All rights held by the University Museum at Texas Southern. For permission to publish, distribute, or use this image for any other purpose, please contact University Museum, Texas Southern University umuseum@gmail.com Attn: Museum Director. Materials not created by Texas Southern University may still be under copyright. Additional materials may be presented for educational and research purposes in accordance with fair use under United States copyright law.
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
This piece features a set of three etching plates and samples. Together, these three plates form the design for Long’s 1990 print Pre Rome. This piece was created during Long’s Prix de Rome fellowship. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a zinc etching plate for one layer of Long’s Post Rome, a man’s face with vertical bars and diagonal rays around it. In the full print, the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. The vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
This is a copper etching plate for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring one layer of the print, a background resembling poured paint, the full composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a watercolor sketch for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring a blobby figure and colorful swirls, the composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long also included a sketch of the frame he intended to create for the piece. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a watercolor sketch of Long’s Post Rome. In the full print, the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. Vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be. The final piece is placed in a cast bronze frame embedded with coins, like this sketch shows. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
O'Higgins' print shows two men balancing on a board and working on a cylindrical structure. Unlike most of the works held by the University Museum, O’Higgins had no connection to Texas Southern; this piece was donated by a collector. O'Higgins was an established artist in the 20th century and was mentored by Diego Rivera.
Lee’s collage speaks to the 1998 lynching of James Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas. Byrd’s murder provided part of the impetus for the passage of stronger anti-hate crime laws in Texas and federally. The collage references the anti-lynching poem/song “Strange Fruit,” made famous by Billie Holiday. Lee, sometimes called “Da Mayor of Fifth Ward,” grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, but his family traces its roots to Jasper, where three white supremacists lynched Byrd and desecrated his body.
This is a publisher’s proof for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring a blobby figure and colorful swirls, the composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a publisher’s proof for Long’s print Post Rome, which was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship. At the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. The vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be.
Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship. The print features two aquatic animals, possibly whales or birds, emerging from the water, while other colorful creatures float around and within them. The cast bronze frame features the words “Pre Rome,” a hand, a paintbrush, and an eyeball, which is one of the motifs that appears most frequently in Long’s artwork.
Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship. At the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. The vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be. The frame, made from cast bronze, features a city skyline, embedded coin shapes, and the words “Post Rome.”
Lewis’s print shows a group of people holding a Kente-style textile, inscribed with the words, “However I am perceived and deceived, however my ignorance and conceits, lay aside your fears that I will be undone, for I shall not be moved," a selection from Maya Angelou’s poem Our Grandmothers; John Biggers also created illustrations to accompany Angelou's poem. Lewis was a leading African-American artist and art historian. She and Biggers studied together at Hampton University.
Woodruff’s portrait depicts Martin Luther King Jr., the iconic civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. Woodruff taught art at Atlanta University for 15 years and perhaps came into contact with MLK during this time. Two of these three side profiles appear to show King smiling, while in the third he is looking away with a serious expression. Woodruff's Art of the Negro murals at Clark Atlanta University are one of his crowning achievements.
This etching by American artist Leonard Baskin shows a dog dozing in a meadow. A crow rests on a plant above the dog. Unlike most works held by the University Museum, the artist is not an alumnus of Texas Southern, nor tied to the university in any way. Instead, this piece was donated to the museum by a benefactor.
This is a copper etching plate for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring one layer of the print, a series of swirls and a heart, the full composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a zinc etching plate for one layer of Long’s Post Rome, lips with diagonal rays around them. In the full print, the center of the design is a large, oval-shaped eye. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. Vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye, which features a man’s face where the pupil would be. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
This is a copper etching plate for Long’s piece Roma, which was created during his 1990-91 Prix de Rome fellowship. Featuring one layer of the print, a blobby figure, the full composition is somewhat reminiscent of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Long rose to prominence as an “outsider artist” without formal training, later becoming one of the co-founders of Project Row Houses.
This is a copper etching plate for one layer of Long’s Post Rome, an eye with a man’s face at its center. This is a frequently used motif in Long’s artwork, across many different mediums. In the print, vertical and diagonal rays and bars draw attention towards the eye. Long’s print was created during his 1990 Prix de Rome fellowship.
