Laura JG
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laurajg.bsky.social
Laura JG
@laurajg.bsky.social
780 followers 180 following 1.3K posts
Artist, art history, deconstructing. The banner is one of my artworks, created on my iPad using the Sketch Club app, with my Apple Pencil in hand. http://laurajeannegrimes.com
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Today’s sketch. “Jade,” drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the Sketch Club app. Based on a photo reference provided by the subject on the Museum app. #digitalart #ipadart #artapp #drawingapp #sketchclubapp
A portrait of a young white woman crying.
February 20, 2026 at 3:16 AM
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By African-American artist Alma Thomas (1891-1978), Hello Dolly, 1967, oil on canvas board, 24 x 18 in. (60.9 x 45.7 cm.), photo: Christie’s New York, 14 Dec 2023. Very different from her well known abstract works. #arthistory #art #blackart #womanartist #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth
The lot essay: “Radiating against a glowing pink and yellow background, Pearl Bailey stands firmly at the center of Alma Thomas’s Hello Dolly. There is no question of focus: Bailey is unequivocally the star of this painting. With her hands held wide, she is frozen in the middle of a song, suspended just for a moment on to the canvas. Her gaze extends beyond the pictorial plane, mimicking how she would have appeared in the play’s iconic staircase scene. The background is rendered impressionistically, with painterly brush strokes heightening the sense of movement and theatricality within the work. Though the audience is not within view, the dynamic brush strokes capture the energy and liveliness of the theatre. Painted after Thomas attended the National Theatre’s all-Black rendition of the infamous musical, Hello Dolly!, the present lot is a token of history as well as a journey into a rare section of the artist’s oeuvre.”
February 19, 2026 at 8:29 PM
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By Ernest Crichlow (1914-2005), The Balcony, 1980. Image: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #art #BlackHistoryMonth . More in ALT. The artist’s obituary in the Washington Post: wapo.st/46HMgSI
the right foreground, a young black woman, in profile, wearing a blue headwrap, looks at a black man and black woman walking on a street (or piazza?), the woman holding a bouquet. From the artist’s obituary in The Washington Post: ‘Mr. Crichlow was crusty and demanding of his students and not always fond of an attitude he saw in newer generations of painters. "I never say 'art,' I say 'life' because that's what my art is," he told the political newsletter Counterpunch in 2003. "It's everybody's art whether they realize it or not. . . . What I mean to say is that I don't think [modern students] see it as part of their life. They have a tendency to separate. Like, 'This is what I do for a living,' as opposed to 'This is my life.' "
February 18, 2026 at 8:21 PM
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Excerpt: “Quiñonez told ARTnews that he had received an anonymous email from someone claiming to be a UNT employee who said that the exhibition was closed because his work included anti-ICE content.” #art #censorship
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...
University of North Texas Faculty Calls on School to Disclose Reason for Cancelation of Victor Quiñonez Exhibition
Faculty of the University of North Texas has called on the school's leadership to disclose the reasoning for the cancelation of a Victor Quiñonez show.
www.artnews.com
February 18, 2026 at 12:00 AM
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By African-American artist Leroy Allen (1951-2007), “Sun Drops," 2001, 29x21 inches (737x533 mm), photo: Swann Auction Galleries, New York, April 5, 2018. More in ALT. #BlackHistoryMonth #blackartist #blackart
A young black girl eating an icee. Behind her hang a pair of blue overalls and a white sheet. Bright sunshine, her face in partial shade. From Wikipedia: ‘Of Allen's artistic skill, New Orleans art critic Doug MacCash wrote: "Although many people think of watercolor as the genteel choice of Sunday painters, it may actually be the most difficult artistic technique to master. A great watercolorist is able to create a painting with such economy and deftness that the hand of the artist is almost unnoticeable - a feat akin to walking across a snowy field without leaving footprints. Both (Leroy) Allen and (Dean) Mitchell can do just that."’
February 17, 2026 at 8:27 PM
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By African-American artist Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948), Portrait of Marian Anderson, 1944, oil on canvas, 76 x 40 1/4 inches (193 x 102.2 cm), National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. #womenartists #arthistory #art #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth
From Cherene Sherrard-Johnson, “Laura Wheeler Waring: A Luminous Palette,” History Now, Issue 73 (Winter 2024): “In Laura Wheeler Waring’s Portrait of Marian Anderson (1944), you can almost hear the renowned contralto’s voice soaring in the pastel room in which she stands. There is a vitality to this painting that evokes the performer behind the façade. Strikingly, Wheeler Waring does not position Anderson on a stage, which is where she first heard Anderson sing. She paints her alone in a room with a single window that frames a bucolic pasture and skyscape, combining two features, portraiture and landscape. Wheeler Waring’s iconic image of Anderson recalls the grace and dignity that Anderson brought to her concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow her to perform in Constitution Hall in 1939. Anderson would go on to have a groundbreaking musical career. Wheeler Waring captures her contemplative subject in a moment of self-gathering before or after she opens her mouth to sing.”
February 16, 2026 at 3:00 PM
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By Nelson Stevens (1938-2022), “Uhuru - Nina,” 1978, acrylic on linen canvas, 40x40 inches (1016x1016 cm), photo: Swann Auction Galleries, October 3, 2024. More info in ALT. #arthistory #art #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth
A portrait of a woman, done in a vivid palette of red, orange, purple, blue + black. From the gallery: ‘Stevens told the painting owners that in this work, he painted the inspiration of Nina Simone and her spirit, rather than her portrait. It is part of his representation of the concept of uhuru; the word means "freedom" in Swahili. Stevens first used the title in the 1971 work Uhuru (see lot 103) to signal the collective AfriCOBRA's Afrocentric identity and politically conscious purpose. Nina Simone also was outspoken in her call for freedom and justice - she said famously "I'll tell you what freedom is to me. No fear!" The great singer and songwriter was also a great Civil Rights activist who spoke out against racism and social and political injustice throughout the 1960s and 70s.’
February 15, 2026 at 5:07 PM
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My sketch for today. Portrait of J K Roo. Based on a photo reference provided by the subject. Drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the Sketch Club app. #digitalart #ipadart #artistapp #artapp #drawingapp #paintingapp #sketchclubapp
A portrait of a young woman with dark hair. Her eyes are closed and tendrils of hair are covering parts of her face.
February 15, 2026 at 1:28 AM
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By African-American artist John Wilson (1922-2015), My Brother, 1942, oil on panel, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts. #arthistory #art #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth More info in ALT.
From the museum: ‘The various elements of this portrait’s background are placed strategically around Frederick’s head to emphasize his connection to his surroundings. The lamppost, building, stairs, and road all emerge from Frederick in some way, such that no part of his body is untouched by the scene. These geographic markers also represent core memories associated with the neighborhood. For example, Wilson has noted that the building’s stairs were a site where neighborhood kids would share ghost stories. Such details are intentional and contribute to the artist’s vision of the painting as “not only a portrait of [his] brother, but a portrait of [his] neighborhood.” This approach laid the groundwork for Wilson’s later works, which aimed to capture more truthful accounts of black subjects, who had been historically caricatured or rendered invisible in the art world. The notion of truth greatly inspired Wilson and stemmed from his experiences as a black museum-goer. As an art student, he had been taught that works on display were meant to symbolize universal truth in life, beauty, humanity, and culture––yet black subjects remained absent. Thus, My Brother works to not only put Wilson’s neighborhood and brother “on the map,” but reclaim and redefine humanity as it pertains to portraiture and other representations of African Americans. The painting is currently on view on SCMA’s third floor.’
February 14, 2026 at 8:54 PM
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Alonzo Adams (born 1961), “2020 Vision,” 2020, oil on canvas, collection of Nyema Tubman, © Alonzo Adams. #art #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth
We see a man, from behind, sitting on a stool, paint cans on the ground, a ladder leaning on the wall. He is painting a mural, with the words: I AM THE HOPE BLACK STRONG DREAMER FEARLESS RESILIENT PHENOMENAL UNSTOPPABLE
February 14, 2026 at 12:27 AM
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By African-American artist Monica Ikegwu, born 1998, “Brea,” 2023, oil on canvas, 48x36 inches, Muskegon Museum of Art. #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #art #painting #BlackHistoryMonth
Her Instagram: www.instagram.com/monica165/
A young black woman, wearing garnet red framed glasses, a black and deep pink striped shirt, and garnet colored jeans. Behind her a pink striped background.
February 13, 2026 at 12:47 AM
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Fabulous work by African-American fiber artist Bisa Butler (born 1973). Check out the artist’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/bisabutler
mmcarthur.bsky.social phoenixrising @mmcarthur.bsky.social · Nov 16
Bisa Butler : The Tea, 2017

The quilt is made of cotton, silk, lace, and netting
approx. 54 x 80 inches

Depicts 3 women in a close circle, based on a 1941 photograph by Russell Lee of women on Chicago's South Side on Easter Sunday.

Further info in the alt text 👇
Butler uses vibrant, patterned fabrics to transform the figures, emphasizing their strength, dignity, and the intimate bonds of Black female community. The title, "The Tea," alludes to the African-American vernacular for gossip or hidden truths, suggesting a moment of shared secrets and camaraderie among the women. Inspiration: The work is inspired by a photograph of three women taken by Russell Lee on Easter Sunday in 1941. Subject matter: The quilt features three women in a close-knit circle, representing a moment of strong Black female friendship and community. Title meaning: "The Tea" refers to the African-American vernacular for gossip or sharing secrets, highlighting the intimate nature of the women's interaction. Artistic technique: Butler uses layered fabrics and striking colors to abstract the background and bring the women to the forefront. Themes: The piece explores themes of Black life, community, and female friendship, celebrating the dignity and poise of the women.
February 11, 2026 at 7:28 PM
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By 19th Century African-American artistRobert S. Duncanson (1821-1872), Fruit Piece, oil on canvas, 14 × 20 inches (35.6 × 50.8 cm), Detroit Institute of Arts. More in ALT. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #painting #oilpainting #BlackHistoryMonth
A still life oil painting of various fruits, including a pineapple. They are overflowing the shallow bowl that holds them. From The New York Historical: “Few artists of color received significant attention in the 19th-century art world, which was, both before and after his time, dominated by white male artists living in northeastern states. Reviews of his work locally and abroad rarely mentioned the color of Duncanson’s skin. Nonetheless, Duncanson’s social position as a black artist was formative in the development of his career.”
February 10, 2026 at 7:44 PM
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My latest sketch, Portrait of Jericho L. Drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the SketchClub app. Based on a photo reference posted by the subject on the Museum app. #ipadart #drawingapp #artapp
A portrait of a young man, bald, wearing two simple earrings, a fuchsia shirt, and fuchsia eyeshadow. Kind of scowling.
February 10, 2026 at 2:13 AM
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By African-American artist Meta Warrick Fuller (1877-1968), “Ethiopia,“ painted plaster, 67 in. high, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. #arthistory #sculpture #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #womenartists #BlackHistoryMonth
A woman wearing an ancient Egyptian headdress. She stands, one hand to her heart. The lower half of her body wrapped like a mummy. A quote from the artist: “Here was a group who had once made history and now after a long sleep was awaking, gradually unwinding the bandage of its mummied past and looking out on life again, expectant but unafraid and with at least a graceful gesture.” For the exposition America’s Making ‘W. E. B. Du Bois, the noted writer, philosopher, and editor… commissioned sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877–1968) to create an artwork that would symbolize the musical and industrial contributions of African Americans to the development of the United States. Fuller, who had studied both in Paris and at the Pennsylvania Museum School of the Industrial Arts, opted to take a different conceptual direction with her allegorical sculpture Ethiopia.’ ~ The National Museum of African American History and Culture
February 9, 2026 at 3:01 PM
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By African/Mexican-American artist Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), Sharecropper, 1970, color linocut on paper. As a print, it appears in many collections, both public and private. More info in ALT. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #womenartists #printmaking #BlackHistoryMonth
Description from her obituary in The Washington Post, April 3, 2012, written by Matt Schudel: “In her 1952 linoleum print "Sharecropper," a woman with white hair and a lean face framed by a wide straw hat gazes off to the side, with her blouse fastened by a safety pin. The static image acquires an internal sense of motion from the thousands of tiny cuts in a linoleum block made by Ms. Catlett.” More from the obituary: ‘Ms. Catlett, who was born in Washington, was a sculptor and printmaker who followed her own determined vision to become what poet Maya Angelou once called a “queen of the arts.” “I have always wanted my art to service black people — to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential,” Ms. Catlett told author Samella Lewis in her 1978 book “Art: African American.”… “I want the ordinary person to be able to relate to what I am doing,” she told New Orleans magazine in 1984. “Working figuratively is the dues I must, want and am privileged to pay so that ordinary people can relate to my work and not get lost trying to figure out what it means.”.. When Ms. Catlett was a graduate student in Iowa, her primary teacher was Grant Wood, who painted "American Gothic." Wood told Ms. Catlett that she should concentrate on making art about what she knew best. “The thing that I knew the most about,” Ms. Catlett said in a 1993 NPR interview, “was black women, because I am one, and I lived with them all my life, so that’s what I started working with.”’
February 8, 2026 at 3:44 PM
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My latest sketch, “Faye and Friend,” based on a photo reference on the Museum app. Drawn freehand on my iPad Pro using the SketchClub app. #digitalart #ipadart #artapp #drawingapp #paintingapp #sketchclubapp
A dog and a young woman, both looking very happy.
February 8, 2026 at 2:35 AM
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Your art history post for today: by African-American artist Augusta Savage, portrait of Gwendolyn Knight, ca. 1934–35, bronze. As a bronze cast, it appears in more than one collection, both public and private. #arthistory #blackart #blackarthistory #BlackHistoryMonth #womanartist #womenartists
A bronze portrait bust of a lovely young woman. From Anastasia Tsaleza, “Augusta Savage: The Woman Who Defined 20th-Century Sculpture,” Daily Art Magazine, November 3, 2025: ‘Augusta Savage’s sculptures stood out because they depicted a real, humane face of African Americans, instead of perpetuating the racist stereotypes that were commonplace in the art of the time, bolstered by movements like primitivism. Being African American herself, the depictions of people from Savage’s community were authentic and realistic. She paved the way for a new kind of sculpture; one that was intimate and representational instead of distant and merely observational. Augusta Savage is a modern artist and should be more widely celebrated as such. She introduced something completely novel and “foreign” to 20th-century sculpture; the idea that Black people’s lives and artistic voices are of equal significance, beauty and righteousness to everyone else’s. She proved that there were other aspects, outside of the popular white imagination, that occupied the Black American’s mind; there was religion, love, family, poverty and, oftentimes, fun. The sculptor surpassed the caricature, one-dimensional image that was the norm when it came to depictions of African Americans; a sad and shameful relic of the confederate past. She shattered harmful binaries that affected her community, showing outsiders that it was no longer necessary for a Black person to either belong in the “Uncle Tom”/”Aunt Jemima” categories or be an outlaw. The people depicted in her works were just as human, intelligent and capable as everyone else, with profound thoughts and feelings that went beyond what the racist mind conceived.’
February 7, 2026 at 5:51 PM
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By Laura Wheeler Waring (1887–1948), Girl in Pink Dress, ca. 1927, oil on canvas, 32 1/4 × 21 in. (81.9 × 53.3 cm), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #womanartist #BlackHistoryMonth More info in ALT.
From the museum: “Laura Wheeler Waring’s portrayals of Black women across the social spectrum often transcended class norms and disrupted prevalent stereotypes. Here, her young sitter is presented as an icon of the Jazz Age, with the sleek, bobbed coiffure and elegant drop-waisted flapper dress that were emblematic of the period. The artist’s skillful portraits of Black figures drew praise from an initially skeptical Alain Locke, the philosophical leader of the Harlem Renaissance, who later acknowledged the modernity of her subjects. Portraits such as this one solidified her stature as the foremost Black female painter of the Harlem Renaissance.”
February 6, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by Laura JG
lalahaenzy.com
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
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By African-American artist William Edouard Scott (1884-1964), Hallie's Red, ca. 1915, oil on Masonite, 29 1/2 × 24 inches / 74.9 x 61 cm, available at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York. More info in ALT.
#arthistory #blackart #blackartist #BlackHistoryMonth
Two young black girls, one holding a red rooster. Behind them, a flock of white chickens. From The Johnson Collection: “In the groundbreaking anthology, The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925), educator and philosopher Alain Locke wrote of the need for African American visual artists to raise “the Negro subject from the level of trivial or sentimental genre to that of serious type study . . . and furnish the fullest and most revealing portrayal of Negro life.” Citing the work of Henry O. Tanner, Hale Woodruff, and William Eduoard Scott, Locke hailed the “advent of a representatively racial school of expression, and an important new contribution, therefore, to the whole body of American art.”
February 5, 2026 at 8:16 PM
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Birmingham Children’s Crusade, a protest against segregation took place May 2–10, 1963, in Birmingham, AL. The publicity motivated Pres. John F. Kennedy to publicly support federal civil rights legislation. #BlackHistoryMonth #Protest #CivilRights #CivilRightsMovement photo: Birmingham News
In this photo from The Birmingham News we see a police officer taking picket signs from students protesting in the Birmingham Children's Crusade in Alabama. Brittanica: “ “Birmingham Children’s Crusade, nonviolent protest against segregation held by Black children on May 2–10, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama. The protest is credited with causing a major shift in attitudes against segregation among Americans and with convincing Pres. John F. Kennedy to publicly support federal civil rights legislation… The Children’s Crusade, as it was later dubbed, began on May 2 shortly after one o’ clock at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Fifty singing students emerged from the church and marched two by two toward city hall and the downtown business district. The police awaited the students with squad cars and police wagons. As the police began loading the teenagers into the vehicles, another line of young protesters emerged from the church, followed by another, many of them singing hymns and waving picket signs. The students headed in different directions, making it harder for the police to intercept them. More than 1,000 students marched on May 2. Most of them were teenagers, but some were as young as six years old. The police took at least 600 children into custody, and Connor commandeered school buses to transport all of them to Birmingham’s jails. Some of the children were held at juvenile detention facilities and even at a local fairgrounds. The following day hundreds more young people showed up to march. With the city’s jails now filled to capacity, Connor ordered his officers to disperse instead of arrest the young protestors. The police proceeded to break up the demonstrators’ lines with nightsticks, dogs, and high-powered fire hoses. The violence was captured by news photographers and television crews for dissemination worldwide, and the images of police committing acts of brutality against schoolchildren horrified Americans.”
February 4, 2026 at 7:00 PM
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By African-American artist Richmond Barthé (1901-1989), “Josephine Baker,” 1950, bronze, 10 1/4 x 6 x 8 3/4 in. (26 x 15.2 x 22.2 cm.), photo: Swann Auction Galleries. More in ALT. #arthistory #blackart #blackartist #sculpture #BlackHistoryMonth
A portrait bust, in bronze, of the entertainer Josephine Baker. This work expresses great dignity and strength. Baker led a truly remarkable life, which included her work with the French Resistance during World War II. A quote from the artist Richmond Barthé: “All my life I have been interested in trying to capture the spiritual quality I see and feel in people, and I feel that the human figure as God made it, is the best means of expressing this spirit in man." (Source: Wikipedia)
February 4, 2026 at 3:45 PM
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© Beverly Y. Smith (b. 1957), “Minerva,”mixed media quilt, graphite portrait, vintage flour sacks, ticking fabric, vintage bow-tie quilt patterns, drunkard's path & patchwork quilt design, 71x40inches, 2022.
#BlackHistoryMonth #quilting #blackart #blackartist #womenartists #womanartist
An artwork using quilting techniques to depict a young black girl, looking at the viewer, against a quilted background.
February 3, 2026 at 4:31 PM
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"Tired," by Langston Hughes

I am so tired of waiting.
Aren't you,
for the world to become good and beautiful and kind?
Let us take a knife and cut the world in two and see what worms are eating at the rind.

#BlackHistoryMonth #poetry
February 3, 2026 at 12:38 AM