Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals Collection
Title
Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals Collection
Date Modified
2025-09-12
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. There has been a rise in the popularity of portraiture among contemporary artists as they strive to depict the diversity of humanity and the human experience. Artists like Amy Sherald, Kehinde Wiley and Kerry James Marshall are working within a tradition that disrupt narratives that rob Black people of their personhood. Likewise, within the sculptural form, busts of Black people reshape public narratives, disrupt inherent biases, and center the humanity of the Black subject. Portraits and Busts from the Atlanta University Annuals presents a collection of Black artists painting and shaping Black subjects in the mid-20th century.
John N. Robinson, born in Washington, D.C., was a self-taught painter. Mr. and Mrs. Barton is an oil painting of an elderly black couple inside their home. The husband is standing in a suit, while the wife is sitting in a sweater and gray dress. Behind them are two framed portraits, a vanity, and the doorway to the kitchen.
Marion Perkins was a sculptor from Marche, AK. Mother and Child is a limestone bust of its namesake. The mother is placed behind the child as she holds his head. The mother looks toward the viewer as the child looks away.
Jewell Woodard Simon was an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and poet from Houston, TX. Margaret is a plaster bust of a Black woman. Like her other sculptures, Simon details the subject's features, including her nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and hair texture.
Calvin Burnett was a graphic artist, illustrator, painter, designer, and art teacher from Cambridge, MA. Marcus Garvey is a portrait of its namesake, a Jamaican political activist. Marcus Garvey was a renowned Black nationalist and Pan-Africanist.
Frederick C. Flemister was an artist from Jackson, GA. Man with Brush is a mannerist self-portrait depicting him in front of an arched window at an empty canvas. Outside of the window is a landscape scene featuring a lake, rolling hillsides, and mountains in the distance.
Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to African American subjects from Chicago, IL. John Brown is a print portrait of its namesake. He was a prominent member of the American abolitionist movement. The print portrays Brown in dark hues as he stares off into the distance.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Head of a Young Lady is a limestone bust of a woman. The subject has pursed lips and a broad neck, maintaining a critical expression toward the viewer.
Houston E. Chandler was a sculptor, printmaker, painter, and teacher from Saint Louis, MO. Head is a wooden bust of an African person with distinct features. Chandler crafts a voluminous mouth, nose, and forehead and elongated ears that enhances its indegneity.
Calvin Burnett was a graphic artist, illustrator, painter, designer, and art teacher from Cambridge, MA. Head depicts a racially ambiguous woman from her neck up. Burnette draws the subject passively, looking past the viewer. The subject has fine hair, a thin nose, Asian eyes, and full lips, which complicate determining her racial identity.
Charles Henry Alston was a Harlem Renaissance painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist, and teacher. Farm Boy is a portrait of a young Black boy holding a hat and tool on a farm. Alston photographed Black Southern life in North Carolina when he visited rural and farm sites with a Farm Security Administration inspector.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, DC. A Terra-Cotta Head is a bust of a woman with a solemn expression. The bust has a slight head tilt with an elongated neck.
