Baltimore Museum of Art: The Director Shares the African American Art Collection

This tour with Doreen Bolger, Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), features highlights from BMA's African American art collection which began in 1939. The Baltimore Museum of Art played an early role in exhibiting African American art. The museum's first exhibition, Contemporary Negro Art, with an exclusive African American art focus, was held from February 13 - 19, 1939. There was a 24-page catalogue, with introductory words from Alain Locke, accompanying this exhibition. This 1939 catalogue is a rare find today, existing in approximately sixteen libraries, on an international scale. See if there is a library near you that owns a copy: Libraries. 

The 1939 Contemporary Negro Art exhibition presented paintings, sculpture, prints, and drawings from a large number of artists, including Charles Alston, Henry Wilmer Bannarn, Richmond Barthé, Robert Blackburn, Samuel Joseph Brown, Aaron Douglas, Elton Clay Fax, Sollace J. Glenn, Rex Goreleigh, Palmer C. Hayden, William Hayden, Louise E. Jefferson, Wilmer Jennings, Malvin Gray Johnson, Sargent Johnson, Lois M. Jones, Ronald Joseph, Jacob Lawrence, Norman Lewis, Richard Lindsey, Ronald Moody, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Robert Neal, Frederick Perry, Florence V. Purviance, Roland St. John, Albert Alexander Smith, James Lesesne Wells, and Hale Woodruff.

Updated 12/08/10: Thanks to Linda Tompkins-Baldwin, Library Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, I can now share the full 1939 exhibition catalogue of Contemporary Negro Art.