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blackarthistory.bsky.social
Black Art History 🖼️
@blackarthistory.bsky.social
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Celebrating Black art and history.
Other account: nativeamericans.bsky.social
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blackarthistory.bsky.social
Mother’s Day, from the series “Born Hip”
Date: 1962
Artist: Billy Abernathy
Among the most influential figures in Chicago’s Black Arts Movement, Billy (Fundi) Abernathy is known for creating images that defined Black confidence, elegance, and style. This work extended to his collaborations with his wife, Sylvia (Laini) Abernathy, with whom he designed album covers for Delmark Records in the 1960s. Around that time, the poet and author Amiri Baraka (born LeRoi Jones) encountered Fundi’s photographs of Chicago and proposed a book project that would combine his poetry with Fundi’s images. The resulting collaboration, In Our Terribleness (Some Elements and Meaning in Black Style), designed by Laini and published in 1970, is both a statement about Black aesthetics and a call to action by the Black Power movement. As Baraka proclaimed, “Our terribleness is our survival as beautiful beings, anywhere.” The Screen and Mother’s Day both appeared in In Our Terribleness. In 1971 the New York Times hailed the book as “an example of the new direction that black art is taking.” https://www.artic.edu/artworks/125547/mother-s-day-from-the-series-born-hip Black history, photography, Billy Abernathy, black art
November 25, 2024 at 12:14 AM
blackarthistory.bsky.social
The Wedding
Date: 1948
Artist: Jacob Lawrence
“I paint the things I have experienced,” Jacob Lawrence once said. In The Wedding, Lawrence depicted both the solemnity and the joy of a marriage ceremony and the coming together of families. Positioning the figures with their backs to the viewer, Lawrence’s composition invites us to participate in the couple’s major life event. Although the preacher’s face is only partially defined, he appears to look down with great seriousness as the two contemplate their vows. The large, colorful urns overflowing with flowers signify happiness and may also represent the future prosperity of this union. Lawrence depicted the histories and events of black Americans—whether through individual compositions such as The Wedding that commemorated the everyday activities of his fellow Harlem residents, or through series of paintings that explored subjects ranging from the Great Migration to the story of Harriet Tubman. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/125660/the-wedding // Jacob Lawrence, black artist, black art, African American history
November 25, 2024 at 12:09 AM
blackarthistory.bsky.social
Head of an Oba
Edo artist
16th century
Head of an Oba Edo artist 16th century “This commemorative cast-brass sculpture depicts the idealized likeness of an oba, or king, wearing a woven cap of coral beads, with lateral strands of coral suspended around both ears. A single bead extends from the headdress to the forehead, aligned with the ridge of the nose, creating bilateral symmetry. The youthful face is round and rendered with precise naturalism. A rolled collar is worn low on the neck and is characteristic of imagery associated with Benin rulers. A circular opening at the summit of the head would have accommodated a carved elephant tusk. This sculpture would have held a place of honor on an altar in the palace of the kingdom of Benin (in present-day Nigeria), during the early half of the sixteenth century. The obas of Benin trace their origins to a ruling dynasty that began in the fourteenth century. The title of oba is passed on to the firstborn son at the time of the ruler’s death. The first obligation of the new king was to create a shrine, dedicated to his predecessor and serving as the site at which the living monarch communicated with his ancestor or father. Ensuring dynastic continuity, the shrine held various carved and cast artifacts, including freestanding brass heads such as this one. The head acted as a vessel through which the late king transferred his power to the new king, the latter accepting the responsibility for successfully directing and defining his life. The Edo people considered the head to be the locus of a man’s character, knowledge, authority, success, and family leadership. These sculptural heads were a consistent visual point of reference from ruler to ruler, reinforcing the idea of familial succession across a single dynasty. The oba is often called by his praise name “Great Head,” emphasizing the head of the living leader as the center of responsibility for the kingdom. Brass heads of the first half of the sixteenth century, such as this one, are distinguished by their naturalism and by the thin walls of thei… Title: Head of an Oba Artist: Edo artist Date: 16th century Geography: Nigeria, Igun-Eronmwen guild, Court of Benin Culture: Edo artist Medium: Brass Dimensions: H. 9 1/4 x W. 8 5/8 x D. 9 in. (23.5 x 21.9 x 22.9 cm) Classification: Metal-Sculpture Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312290
November 24, 2024 at 10:19 PM
blackarthistory.bsky.social
Photo of an isolated marcher
Artist: Roy DeCarava
African American History Link: https://www.nga.gov/features/black-artists.html
November 24, 2024 at 10:06 PM