Weschler’s Auctioneers: African-American Art Auction, Sale 1424

Weschler's Auctioneers will offer a compelling selection of African American art, featuring the Collection of Reverend Douglas E. Moore and Dr. Doris Hughes-Moore on February 26, 2016. This specialized sale focuses on the works of modern and contemporary African-American artists, including one of the largest private collections of  prints by Elizabeth Catlett. 

Sale 1424 consists of 108 lots and includes the Moores’ comprehensive collection of prints by Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and John Biggers that is an all-encompassing visual representation of the changing landscape of black life in America from the 1940s to the early 21st century. In addition to the artists already mentioned, there are selections that represent other artists from other collectors as well, including Lois Mailou Jones, Charles Sebree, Anthony Watkins, Richard Dempsey, Ulysses Marshall, Martha Jackson Jarvis, John T. Riddle, Jr., Sam Gilliam, and others. 

Select highlights from this upcoming auction follow:
 

    Elizabeth Catlett, Two Generations, Lithograph, 1979. Sight size: 19" x 26". Property from the collection of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris-Hughes Moore. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 29: Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012)
Two Generations: This lithograph, number 75/100, is inscribed "To our friend, Douglas Moore" in pencil. The lot has an estimate of $3,000 - 5,000.

Elizabeth Catlett, Cartas, Lithograph, 1986. Sight size: 29½" x 22". Property from the collection of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris-Hughes Moore. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers 

Lot 37: Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012) 

Cartas: This 1986 lithograph is 68/80 and is inscribed in pencil, "To Doug Moore- So happy you like this". Cartas, lot 37, has an estimate of $3,000 - 5,000.  

Elizabeth Catlett, Homage to the Panthers, Lithograph in color, 1993. Sight size: 36" x 22". Property from the collection of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris-Hughes Moore. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 58: Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012)
Homage to the Panthers: This lithograph which is in color is an artist proof 3/20 with an estimate of $3,000 - 5,000.
  

Elizabeth Catlett, Domestic Worker, Lithograph, 1995. Sight size: 27" x 19". Property from the collection of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris-Hughes Moore. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 60: Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012)
Domestic Worker: This lithograph is a later edition dated '46 - '95 and is number 5/6 in the edition. Domestic Worker has an estimate of $10,000 - 15,000.   

Romare Bearden, Slave Ship, Serigraph, 1977. Sight size: 33" x 23½". Property from the collection of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris-Hughes Moore. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 75: Romare Bearden (American 1911-1988)
Slave Ship: This serigraph is 73/144 and has an estimate of $3,000 - 5,000. 

Lois Mailou Jones, Monte Carlo, Watercolor on board, 1955. Sight size: 18½" x 23½". Property of various owners. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers 

Lot 85: Lois Mailou Jones (American 1905-1998)
Monte Carlo: Lot 85 has an estimate of $8,000 - 12,000. This work is accompanied by a copy of a letter from the artist.

 

Charles Sebree,  Head of a Man, Casein on paper, 15" x 10". Property of various owners. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 96: Charles Sebree (American 1914-1985)
Head of a Man: This lot has an estimate of $3,000 - 5,000. 
 

Martha Jackson Jarvis, Grandfather's Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mixed media sculpture, 48" x 28". Property of various owners. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 98: Martha Jackson Jarvis (American b. 1952)
Grandfather's Red Hot Chili Peppers: This mixed media sculpture is unsigned, and has an estimate $5,000 - 7,000.     

For a full range of available art by African-American artists in Sale 1424, see online auction catalogue.

For convenience to clients who cannot attend the auction, Weschler's offers telephone bids or will execute absentee bids without charge. In addition, buyers may bid live on Invaluable. Please visit Invaluable to register for the auction and bid live along with those in the auction house and on the telephone. Read more about buying at Weschler's. For additional information on bidding, contact: 202/ 628-1281.  

Swann Galleries: African-American Fine Art Sale 2378

Swann Auction Galleries will feature Ascension: A Century of African-American Art on April 2, 2015. This auction, Sale 2378, is the latest in a series of Swann's African-American Fine Art auctions, and it consists of 178 lots. The theme of Ascension, the act of rising to an important position or a higher level, continues the recognition and elevation of African-American art to its rightful place in American art history. 

As we celebrate Women's History Month, this post highlights works by select women artists featured in Sale 2378 as representative samples of a broader spectrum of African-American women artists. It is a tribute to all African American women artists, acknowledging and recognizing the contributions that they have made to the field of American art. 

As time passes, I hope to see more female artists included in auctions such as this, as well as main stream art auctions. As one of the crucial vehicles in bringing awareness to the collector, auctions play a crucial role; and through this awareness, the collector can make a significant impact in changing the structure of the art world. For the future, lets envision a newly informed collector, wielding power in collection building, that moves in the direction of more female and racial inclusion. This newly informed collector will deconstruct the existing western structure, emphasizing American white males. The end result leads to a more representative and inclusive sample of  American art in our galleries and museums.     

In addition to the artists highlighted in this post, Ascension: A Century of African-American Art, features works by Barkley L. Hendricks, Charles White, Romare Bearden, Edward Bannister, Thomas Watson Hunster, Henry Ossawa Tanner, James A. Porter, Delilah William Pierce, Richmond Barthé, Betye Saar, Allan Freelon, Hale Woodruff, Dox Thrash, Sargent Johnson, Jack Whitten, Faith Ringgold, Eugene J. Martin, Sam Gilliam, Edward Clark, Hank Willis Thomas, and others. 

Beulah Woodward, Maudelle. Painted terra cotta, mounted on a wood base, circa 1937.
Approximately 12" high. Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 21, Beulah Woodward, Maudelle

This beautiful bust is a very scarce example of this early Californian sculptor's work. In this sensitive portrayal, Woodard displays a powerful realism - particularly in the careful modelling of her subject's features. Maudelle Bass (1908 - 1989) was a professional dancer and artist's model. Lot 21 has an estimate of $10,000 - $15,000. Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $12,500.

Loïs Mailou Jones, Lobsterville Beach. Oil on linen canvas, 1945. 26" x 32". 
Signed and dated in oil, lower right recto.
Signed and inscribed "Howard University, Washington, DC"
in ink, and titled in chalk on the upper stretcher bar, verso.
Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 39,  Loïs Mailou Jones, Lobsterville Beach   

This painting, Lobsterville Beach, is an impressive Impressionist canvas and one of the largest landscapes by Jones that Swann Galleries has located of a Martha's Vineyard subject. This lot has an estimate of $30,000 - $40,000. Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $62,500.

Laura Wheeler Waring, Untitled (Still Life with Tulips and Figurine).
Oil on canvas board, circa 1940-45. 23 3/4 " x 19 3/4".
Signed in oil, lower left. Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 40,  Laura Wheeler Waring, Untitled (Still Life with Tulips and Figurine)

During her distinguished career Waring created a number of landscapes and still lifes. This painting, Still Life with Tulips and Figurine, is in the impressionistic style characteristic of a large portion of her works. From a private collection in Massachusetts, this lot has an estimate of $8,000 - $12,000. Lot was Unsold.

Mavis Pusey, Untitled. Oil on burlap canvas, circa 1968. 42" x 52½".
Signed in oil, lower left recto. Signed in pencil, lower right verso. Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 89,  Mavis Pusey, Untitled

This striking modernist abstraction, Untitled,  is typical of Mavis Pusey's distinctive late 1960s canvases. She was born in Jamaica and immigrated to New York at the age of 18 to study at the Art Students League. Lot 89 has an estimate of $15,000 - $25,000. 
Lot was Unsold.

Elizabeth Catlett, Glory. Cast bronze with a copper-colored patina, on a wooden base,
1981. 14" x 9½" x 10". From the first part of the total edition of 9,
which was later completed in 2006.
Initialed "EC" and dated, rear lower edge. Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 146, Elizabeth Catlett, Glory  

The sitter for this bust is Glory Van Scott, performer, dancer and educator, who gained fame as the principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham, Agnes DeMille, and Talley Beatty dance companies and as a performer on Broadway in the 1960s and 1970s. Lot 146 is the fourth known cast of this bust and it has an estimate of $25,000 - $35,000. Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $57,500

Carrie Mae Weems, You Became Playmate to the Patriarch and Their Daughter.
Diptych of Chromongenic prints, with etched text on glass, 1995.
Both: 23½" x 19½". Both signed, dated and numbered 2/10 (left panel) and
1/10 (right panel) in pencil on the flush mounts, verso.
From the series From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried. Image: Swann Galleries

Lot 167, Carrie Mae Weems, You Became Playmate to the Patriarch and Their Daughter

Another set (each numbered 7/10) of these images were offered in the Photograph auction, April 24-25, 2006, at Christie's New York. In that sale the pair had an estimate of $3,000 - $5,000, and reached a realized price of $15,600. 

Fast forward to Sale 2378. Lot 167, You Became Playmate to the Patriarch and Their Daughter, has an estimate of $15,000 - $25,000. Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $23,750.

Kara Walker, The Emancipation Approximation (Scene 18).
Color screenprint on Somerset 500 gram paper, 1999-2000. 44" x 34".
Initialed, dated and numbered "XVII/XXV" in pencil, verso.
 Published by Jenkins Sikkema Editions, New York.
From The Emancipation Approximation portfolio.

Lot 169, Kara Walker, The Emancipation Approximation (Scene 18).  

Lot 169 is one screenprint (scene 18) from the set of twenty-six screenprints. Another edition of this print appeared in the Modern and Contemporary Editions auction at Phillips on June 8, 2011 with an estimate of  $6,000 - $8,000 and sold for $10,625. 

Lot 169, The Emancipation Approximation (Scene 18), has an estimate of $6,000 - $9,000. Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $23,750.   

The works will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries, to check dates, see Preview Dates.  An illustrated auction catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online.

For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Nigel Freeman at 212-254-4710, extension 33, or via email at nfreeman@swanngalleries.com.                                                     

Live online bidding is also available via invaluable.com. Thanks to Swann Galleries for the use of images and written material in the catalogue.

Further Readings:
Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett / New York Times

Loïs Mailou Jones

Loïs Mailou Jones / Callaloo Interview with Charles H. Rowell

Loïs Mailou Jones / Smithsonian American Art Museum...

Mavis Pusey

Kara Walker / Sikkema Jenkins and Co.

Kara Walker / Walker Art Center

Laura Wheeler Waring

Carrie Mae Weems

Carrie Mae Weems / Shainman Gallery

Beulah Woodward

Swann Galleries: African-American Fine Art Featuring the Richard A. Long Collection

Swann Auction Galleries will offer a two-part auction of African-American Fine Art on October 9, 2014. Sale 2359, consisting of 171-lots has a separate print catalogue for each of the two parts. Part 1 is the Richard A. Long Collection of African-American Art, consisting of 47 lots that feature more than 60 artworks from the estate of Professor Richard A. Long. Part 2 consists of 124 lots. Excellent choices are to be found in both parts of Sale 2359. To have an opportunity to view much of the artwork in this sale is a rare experience, affording the viewer a chance to see many pieces that have been in private collections and not made available for public viewing in decades, if ever. The online and print catalogues offer a rare view into that world.

This post features a few highlights from both parts of the upcoming sale. When I initially heard that there would be an auction of Richard Long's African-American Art Collection, I was expecting to see representative pieces from Beauford Delaney, Romare Bearden, and possibly Hale Woodruff from what I knew of his professional connection and relationship with these artists. However, there were pleasant surprises among the work of these artists in the collection, as well as  artists, such as Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, William Artis and many others who are prominently represented in the collection. The following are representative samples from part 1 of the upcoming auction. To view a full selection, see the online catalogue.

William E. Artis, Vernon, Terra cotta, mounted on wood base, ca. 1946-50. 14"high; 22" high, including base. Image: Swann Auction Galleries.

 
Lot 8  William E. Artis,   Vernon 

Vernon, a terra cotta mounted on wood base, is a large stylized head by William E. Artis and is typical of his beautiful modern sculpture. Artis's Vernon is a fine example of his 1940s portraits of African-American youth that he made with a distinctive and sensitive realism. This 22 inches high, including base, sculpture has an estimate of $20,000 - $30,000.  
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $57,500.

 

Beauford Delaney, Untitled (Abstraction), Oil on linen canvas, 1964, 16" x 13¼". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 13   Beauford Delaney,     Untitled (Abstraction)
This is one of the five Delaney artworks appearing in the Long Collection. This small oil on linen canvas is an exquisite example of Delaney's signature abstraction in yellow and is from an important year in his development. This piece has an estimate of $20,000 - $25,000. 
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $75,000.
 

Alma W. Thomas, Abstraction (Striped Composition), Watercolor and pencil on paper, ca. 1971, 15" x 22½". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

 
Lot 23     Alma W. Thomas,       Untitled (Striped Composition)
This watercolor has an estimate of  $15,000 - $25,000. 
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $28,160.
 

Romare Bearden, Untitled (The Trojan Horse), Collage of various papers and mixed media, mounted on masonite board, ca. 1977, 5"x 4½". Image:Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 32     Romare Bearden,      Untitled (The Trojan Horse) 
The Trojan Horse is one of the 14 lots, featuring works by Romare Bearden. This small but powerful collage is a wonderful example and a revelation. This scene was not included or developed into Bearden's important 1977 Odysseus series of collages and watercolors, which  begins with The Fall of Troy. This work adds to our understanding of his conception of the series. Lot 32 has an estimate of $15,000 - $25,000. 
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $12,500.
  

Romare Bearden, Brazil, Collage of various printed color papers, mounted on masonite board, ca. 1978, 15" x 11". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 34        Romare Bearden,       Brazil
In this striking collage, Bearden shows his skillful hand - the cutting and layering of the various shaped papers that make up the plumed headdress form a tight, almost abstract composition. Brazil may have been a maquette for a poster; it has an auction estimate of $35,000 - $50,000.

Although part 2 of the auction is comprehensive in scope, including exceptional early pieces, modern masters, and contemporary artists covering a variety of media, I've decided to simply highlight some of the abstract painting appearing in the auction. 
Lot was unsold.

Charles Alston, The Bridge, Oil on linen canvas, ca. 1950-53, 20"x 50". Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 81       Charles Alston,    The Bridge    
The Bridge, an oil on canvas, is a scarce example of Charles Alston's early modernist painting and his transition toward abstraction. This lot has an estimate of $20,000 - $30,000. 
Lot was unsold.

 

Norman Lewis, Untitled, Oil on heavy linen canvas, 1953, 39"x 47".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 86       Norman Lewis,    Untitled

This oil on canvas is a beautiful painting that is a very fine example of Norman Lewis's evolving Abstract Expressionist idiom in the early 1950s. This intriguing transitional work comes from a short period when the artist used a heavier oil paint application and an editing layer of white paint from 1953 to 1954. Lot 86 has an estimate of $60,000 - $90,000.  
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $75,000.

Löis Mailou Jones, Festival, Mixed media on thin cream woven paper, 1964, 32½" x 24".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 112    Löis Mailou Jones,    Festival     
This large and vibrant work on paper is a scarce example of abstract painting by the artist. Jones was inspired by the rising popularity of Abstract Expressionism in the early 1960s, and made some forays into abstraction. Festival has an estimate of $7,000 - $10,000.
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $10,625. 

 

Aaron Douglas, Creation, Oil on canvas board, 1969, 20"x 26".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 125      Aaron Douglas,    Creation
This striking oil painting is an unusual example of a foray into abstraction by Aaron Douglas. Douglas had never completely crossed into abstraction like his peers Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff despite a modernist sensibility. This work, Creation, has an estimate of $30,000 - $40,000. 
Lot was Unsold. 

Kenneth Victor Young, Untitled, Acrylic on raw cotton canvas, 1969-70, 52"x 58".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries    

Lot 128       Kenneth Victor Young,    Untitled
This large canvas of floating orbs is a wonderful example of the late 1960s paintings of Kenneth Young, the Washington, DC color field painter who is regaining national recognition today. This lot has an estimate of $12,000 - $18,000.  
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $18,750.

Alma W. Thomas, Untitled (from the Atmospheric Effects Series), Watercolor on thick woven paper, 1971, 22"x 30½".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 129   Alma W. Thomas,   Untitled (from the Atmospheric Effects Series)
This lot has an estimate of $20,000 - $30,000.
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $35,000.
 

Sam Gilliam, Paper Theatre, Raked acrylic on polypropylene on plywood panel, 1991, 30"x 62".  Image: Swann Auction Galleries   

Lot 165    Sam Gilliam,     Paper Theatre
Paper Theatre  has an estimate of $30,000 - $40,000.  
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $30,720.

Before closing, I must mentioned that the top lot in Sale 2359 is Elizabeth Catlett's Singing Head (Lot 140) carved wood with painted details and inlay. This example of Catlett's mid-career work has an estimate of $120,000 - $180,000.  
Price Realized with Buyer's Premium: $125,000.
 
The works will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries Saturday, October 4, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday, October 6 through Wednesday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Thursday, October 9, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. An illustrated auction catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online.
 
For further information on the auction or the works, contact Swann's African-American Fine Art department.                                       
 

Live online bidding is also available via invaluable.com.

Thanks to Swann Galleries for the use of images, written material in the catalogue and Press Release.

Weschler's Fall Auction to Feature African American Artists

Weschler's has been an auction tradition in the Nation's Capital for over 120 years. As Washington D.C.'s only auction house, Weschler's has been in the unique position to auction, over the years, property from many prominent local estates. They hold at least 6 Capital Collections estate auctions each season which feature European and American furniture and decorations; paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture; jewelry, coins and watches; 20th century decorative arts; Asian works of art; and rugs, carpets and tapestries. 

Weschler's fall auction which will be held on September 19th will begin its 2014-2015 season, and among the offerings in their upcoming  Capital Collections Estate Auction, Sale 1417 will be an important selection of 20^thcentury African American works of art cultivated from prominent Washington, D.C. collections. The following artists are represented from those collections: Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Sam Gilliam, Romare Bearden, and Joseph Holston. 

This post features highlights of Sale 1417. Two notable sculptures by artist and activist, Elizabeth Catlett, come to auction from the esteemed collection of her personal friend and civil rights pioneer, the Reverend Douglas Moore and his wife, Dr. Doris Hughes-Moore. 
 

Elizabeth Catlett, Bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bronze with a green patina, 1990, 18½"x14"x12". Property of  Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris Hughes-Moore Collection. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 393  Elizabeth Catlett   Bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
This bust is bronze with a green patina on a black marble plinth base; it has an estimate of $50,000 - $70,000. The catalogue notes that a second version  of this sculpture can be found at the King Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio. 

Elizabeth Catlett, Female Torso, Marble on wood base, height: 14". Property of Reverend Douglas Moore and Dr. Doris Hughes-Moore Collection. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 394  A second sculpture from the Moore Collection is a Female Torso by Elizabeth Catlett. This marble sculpture on a wood base has an auction estimate of $30,000 - $40,000. Female Torso serves as the cover image of the Capital Collections Estate Auction catalogue.

Alma Woodsey Thomas, Untitled, Watercolor on paper, sight size: 30"x 22". Property of George R. Rhodes, Jr., Revocable Trust. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 397 This watercolor, Untitled, by Alma Woodsey Thomas is from the George R. Rhodes, Jr., Revocable Trust. Dated from 1960, the watercolor on paper has an estimate of $10,000 - $15,000. There is a catalogue note that a second painting depicting a study for a double portrait can be found on verso.
 

Sam Gilliam, Misty, Acrylic on canvas, 53"x 66". Property of George R. Rhodes, Jr., Revocable Trust. Image: Weschler's Auctioneers and Appraisers

Lot 400  Another piece of art from the Rhodes Trust is lot 400 entitled Misty by Sam Gilliam. This acrylic on canvas is dated 1969 and has an auction estimate of $20,000 - $30,000.

For a full range of available art by African American artists, see lots 393 - 402.

As a convenience to clients who cannot attend the auction, Weschler's offers telephone bids or will execute absentee bids without charge. In addition, buyers may bid live on Invaluable. Please visit Invaluable to register for the auction and bid live along with those in the auction house and on the telephone. Read more about buying at Weschler's. For additional information on bidding, contact: 202/ 628-1281.   

Select African American Art Exhibitions: Highlights for 2013

This highlight features a few exhibitions that are either currently on view or will be opening in the near future. Presenting the exhibitions as they approach their opening dates or shortly after opening, assures a freshness and currency of information for visual art enthusiasts. A number of important traveling exhibitions that opened earlier in the year are still being featured across the country and are accessible from the Blog page entitled: Select Art Exhibitions in 2013. This page is updated on a weekly basis by either adding newly discovered exhibitions or removing those that are approaching their expiration date. Its intent is to provide comprehensive coverage of current ongoing exhibitions on view for the current quarter of the year.

Black Art Project (BAP) welcomes any information or leads that you might have relating to Black art exhibitions, particularly regional exhibitions that are not traditionally marketed on a national scale. BAP will verify the accuracy of any information submitted. Thank you for any assistance that you provide.

Boston, Massachusetts

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Loïs Mailou Jones, La Baker (detail), 1977, Acrylic and collage on canvas. Gift of the Lois Mailou Jones Pierre-Noel Trust.

Loïs Mailou Jones presents 30 paintings and drawings by the distinguished, internationally acclaimed graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. "This exhibition presents works from every stage of Jones’s artistic career, beginning with her early copies after objects in the Museum’s collections, her teaching career at Howard University, and the travels that shaped her distinctive vision and contributions to American art." 

The exhibition, Loïs Mailou Jones, will be on view through October 14, 2013 in the Bernard and Barbara Stern Shapiro Gallery (Gallery 231) at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Read more at Boston's NPR news station.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Hunter Museum of American Art 

 

Whitfield Lovell,

Kin LII (Pie in the Sky), 2008, Conte on paper, plaster sculpture with base,

Courtesy of the artist and DC Moore Gallery, New York

Whitfield Lovell: Deep River was organized by the Hunter Museum of American Art. The highlight of Deep River is a large, site-specific installation that Lovell specifically created for the Hunter that explores the history of Camp Contraband, which was located just across the river from the Hunter Museum. Contraband camps became the foundation for postwar African American neighborhoods, facilitating the process that produced rapid urbanization of former slaves, most of whom had lived in rural areas. 

Whitfield Lovell, Pago Pago,

2008, conte crayon on wood with radios 

and sound, 97 x 66 x 13 inches, 

Courtesy of the artist and 

DC Moore Gallery, New York

"The Hunter Museum exhibition features artwork created since 2008, including the artist's signature tableaux that are constructed of intricate charcoal drawings on vintage wood juxtaposed with found objects. Lovell prefers to leave the history of his salvaged wood intact, never removing the layers of age paint, adding only his Conté crayon drawings and the objects he has collected over the years."

Also included in the exhibition are a number of mixed media drawings from Lovell's ongoing Kin series. Each of the Kin works features a portrait along with a single object; see image of Pie in the Sky (Kin LII) above, center.

Deep River will be on view through October 13, 2013.

Greensboro, North Carolina

University of North Carolina Greensboro

Weatherspoon Art Museum

Willie Cole, Shoe Bouquet, 2009, Shoes, wood, and wire, 65" x 56" x 61".
  Courtesy of Alexander & Bonin Gallery. Photo: Jason Mandella.

Complex Conversations: Willie Cole Sculptures and Wall Works will be on view in the Bob and Lissa Shelley McDowell Gallery, The Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, September 14 - December 15, 2013. This exhibition covers more than thirty years of the artist's work, including three-dimensional sculpture to drawing and printmaking.

The exhibition establishes thematic consistencies and intense interactions of Cole’s art and its focus on key consumer objects like hairdryers, high heel shoes, and, above all, the steam iron, transforming these everyday mass-produced objects into precious icons or symbolic representations that explore ideas of diversity, identity, and commercialization.

In the words of Patterson Sims (Western Michigan University), Curator of Complex Conversations, "Willie Cole grew up in post-industrial Newark, N.J., and sees himself as an urban archaeologist." Inner-city African-American life and family have been the underpinnings of Cole’s work. He has lived most of his life in or near Newark, NJ, a city fraught with racial tensions and violence in the late 1960s.

Read more about Willie Cole.

An Artist Talk will be held on Friday, September 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm. Seating for this event is limited; up to two seats may be reserved beginning August 19. Details: Event Calendar. Reception follows. Free.

Houston, Texas
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

LaToya Ruby Frazier, Momme, 2008. Gelatin silver print. 20 x 24 inches. Courtesy the
artist and Galerie Michel Rein, Paris.

LaToya Ruby Frazier: WITNESS will be on view in the Zilkha Gallery at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston through October 13, 2013. The exhibition features photographs, videos, digital works, and a recent photolithograph series that speak to the economic issues surrounding her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania as it struggled to weather the country's shift from a manufacturing economy (steel plants) to an information economy. Frazier documents   "Braddock's deterioration with an unflinching eye and a gift for communicating through documentary images that connects her to other socially engaged practitioners like American photographers Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks." 

As Frazier sees it, her work is "the story of economic globalization and the decline of manufacturing as told through the bodies of three generations of African American women." The primary players in this story are Frazier's Grandma Ruby (1925-2009), her Mom (1959-) and the artist herself (1982-). This exhibition includes a selection of more than 20 black-and-white photographs from the artist's renowned Notion of Family series.To learn more about the back story of what drives and motivates Frazier to action as an artist and activist read Contemporary Arts Museum. 

The exhibition, LaToya Ruby Frazier: WITNESS, is accompanied by a bound, illustrated catalogue.

Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville Museum of Art

    Thornton Dial, Lady Holds the Long Neck Bird, 1991, Watercolor, 29 5/8 x 22".                                                  Ackland Art Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, 2011.                                                               

Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper is on view at the Knoxville Museum of Art through August 25, 2013. Although Thornton Dial is widely recognized for his large-scale, multimedia assemblages, his most abundant body of work is his drawings, which he began producing in the early 1990s. This exhibition of Dial's drawings from 1990-1991, represent a pivotal moment in his artistic career
and reflects his characteristic and broadly coherent iconography of women, fish, birds, roosters, and tigers, rendered in a variety of media. Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper "offers a fresh look at the artist’s achievements as seen through the medium of drawing and provide a touchstone of Dial’s creative process."
 
A publication which offers the first sustained critical attention to Dial’s works on paper accompanies this exhibition.

Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper was organized and circulated by the Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

For additional exhibitions featured across the country see: Select Art Exhibitions in 2013.