Ware’s blue, abstract painting is created in landscape form. Curved shapes are layered over an oval-shaped form. The top layer is a slanted prism with cutout shapes that slightly imitate the forms floating around. Abstract art of this sort is not commonly featured in the permanent collection of Texas Southern University.
Signature fusion of urban expressionism and folk art. The horses, are a recurring symbol in his work, represent freedom, movement, and resistance. Created with bold, layered brushstrokes on reclaimed wood, the piece embodies themes of liberation and struggle, often inspired by the energy and challenges of inner-city life.
Ellis Wilson was an artist from Mayfield, KY. "Allen" is a portrait depicting a shirtless, seated Black man wearing an aviator hat. The subject is leaning against the backrest of a wooden chair with his arms crossed, looking away from the viewer.
Henri Linton was an artist and art professor from Tuscaloosa, AL. "Alone" depicts a melancholy woman sitting in a chair. The muted blue background emphasizes her solemnity as she rests her head in solitude.
Cornett's work shows Stokely Carmichael with angelic features amidst raised hands. He was a key civil rights activist, a leader of the SNCC, and popularized the term "Black Power." He spoke at Texas Southern one month prior to the TSU Invasion, when Houston police invaded the campus, fired 5,000 rounds into dormitories, and arrested 488 students.
Walter Washington Smith was an artist who often painted religious scenes and created city signs and posters from Clearfield, PA. However, "April Blizzard" indicates Smith's variability as it depicts a residential neighborhood during a blizzard. The sidewalk, open and empty street, and a house behind four barren trees are covered in blowing snow.
John Howard was an artist from Alcorn, MS. "Arkansas Landscape" shows a red house with a wooden gate, five posted signs, and six mailboxes in the foreground. The house is surrounded by dark green grass, leading to a mountaintop in the background. A sign pinned to a tree reads “For Sale” along with other titled signs throughout the landscape.
Romeyn van Vleck Lippman was a 19th-century painter and educator. "Baptismal (I Give This Child to Baptism)" depicts a religious scene of a woman preparing to baptize a girl. Both female subjects are dark-skinned and standing in water, dressed in white, under a dark blue sky. The woman is wearing a red kerchief, and the girl's is white.
Hicks’ shimmering painting shows a young girl, clad in purple cloth, wearing emerald jewelry against a purple geometric background. Purple is often associated with royalty and the glittering elements add to the piece’s sense of luxury and decadence. Hicks graduated from Texas Southern University in 2018.
Michaux’s painting shows a nude woman draped with jewelry from her ears, neck, and arms. In her right hand, she holds a branch with leaves; a small flame extends from her left hand, above her head. After graduating from Texas Southern, Michaux went on to teach art at several universities, including HBCUs Southern University, North Carolina Central University, and South Carolina State University.
Samples’ painting is a self-portrait. During the elementary painting course, Texas Southern art majors are required to paint self-portraits. Samples’ classmates recall being intimidated and inspired by his talent and work pace when they sat next to him in the studio. Samples was one of the founders of Houston’s Project Row Houses and now works as an art conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
This abstract work features three distorted cows’ faces that seem to be staring upwards and at the viewer, against a colorful triangular background. Vital was an art student at Texas Southern and later went on to become a faculty member in the art department. Many works in the school’s collection, particularly from the 1970s, use cubist styles.
This radiant work by Oliver Parson engulfs the viewer in the spiraling flow of a smiling woman's silky headwrap. The headwrap is a fashionable method of hair protection and expression of identity that is shared among women across the African diaspora.
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, loooking into his lap, resting his body on a table or desk. His right fist sits above his head, and he is wearing a military uniform.
Mills' painting is a portrait of an unknown woman, dressed conservatively in a turtleneck, with short hair and a pearl earring. As a part of the art curriculum, students are required to create portraits during elementary painting. Many of Mills’ pieces share this painting’s muted and dark color palette. Some of Mills’ classmates recall him being color-blind, perhaps partly explaining these color choices.
This painting by Charlene Claye shows a group of three people, including at least two women, fishing by a pond. This painting highlights one of the many types of labor Black women perform to support their families and communities. The broad, blue strokes extend a sense of timelessness and depth.
Oliver’s painting depicts a young boy sitting on the stump of a tree. The boy is barefoot and wearing a contemplative expression on his face. Oliver’s style in this painting is very free-form, with quick and abrupt brushstrokes throughout the composition. Oliver is one of the most successful art graduates from TSU, going on to be the only North American artist to design scarves for the fashion house Hermes.
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.
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.
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.
Oliver's painting shows a group of shirtless men looking towards an unseen figure or force. The painting makes heavy use of crosshatching and red and black hues. The composition bears significant resemblance to Oliver's mural Fire Fighters, which can be seen in the 1978 book, Black Art in Houston: The Texas Southern University Experience.
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.
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.
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.
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 child dressed in red and overalls standing in front of the church's entrance.
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.
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.
Settles' painting shows a Black man abused by a group of 5 police, while a group looks on in the background. This painting reflects frustration with police brutality and racism towards the Black community. Settles replicated this image (of the police surrounding the man) in another of his paintings with a different, more abstract background.
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.
Gordon's painting reflects the work life of cotton harvesters. The three pictured laborers are older and formally dressed as they pick cotton bolls and carry baskets. Many of the cotton plants are shown with white flowers, an early stage in the plant’s development. This suggests Gordon may be familiar with the process of cotton farming and harvesting.
