AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART:
A Guide to Resources in MSU Libraries

Patton, Sharon F. African-American Art. N6538.N5 P371 1998.

Driskell, David C., ed. African American Aesthetics: a Postmodernist View. N6538.N5 A347 1995. This collection builds on the pioneering work of Locke, Herring and Porter. African-American art is discussed in the context of American art, in illustrated scholarly essays.

Hooks, Bell. Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. N6537.H585 A2 1995.

Lewis, Samella. African American Art and Artists. N6538.N5 L38 1994. A revision of her historical work which originally appeared in 1978.

Bearden, Romare. A History of African-American Artists: from 1792 to the Present. Folio N6538.N5 B38 1993. A major survey by a major artist.

Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. E29.N3 T48 1983 ART. A seminal work surveying the persistent presence of African art in America.

Vlach, John M. The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts. Folio N6538.N5 V57 1990. Originally published to accompany a major exhibition, this is a pioneering work on folk traditions.

Fine, Elsa Honig. The Afro-American Artist: a Search for Identity. N6538.N5 F56. This well-illustrated historical survey from the colonial period on, includes extensive notes and bibliography.

Atkinson, J. Edward. Black Dimensions in Contemporary American Art. N6538.N5 A8. A visual survey of 50 artists, with short introductory essays by Edward Spriggs, then Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, and David Driskell.

Dover, Cedric. American Negro Art. N6538.N5 D6 1970. A heavily illustrated survey from the colonial period to the 20th century. Artist and general index, selected portraits of artists, and bibliography. An important contribution following in the footsteps of Locke and Porter.

Porter, James A. Modern Negro Art. N6538.N5 P6 1992 ART REF (and earlier editions). By the first African-American art historian, the "father of Black art history," this is the classic work on the subject, the "first to denote and define the African impulse in the visual arts in the U.S." Porter also arranged the first exhibition of contemporary African art in the U.S. (1951, Howard University). David Driskell's introduction to the 1992 edition is an important review of the development of African-American art history.

Locke, Alain. Negro Art: Past and Present. N6538.N5 L63. Locke was the "first major advocate, critic, patron, and writer on Afro-American art." His landmark work surveys the linkages of African-American art to the legacy of African art. For an excellent bibliography of Locke's publications see Note 18, p. 25 in Against the Odds listed on p. 4 of this bibliography.

Du Bois, W.E.B. The Negro American Artisan. E185.8.D79 SPC. Du Bois' huge body of work includes this important title, probably the first survey of African-American art. (See also the W.E.B. Du Bois WWW site in Internet Resources.)

African-American Mosaic: a Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. E184.6.L47 1993 Main Library Reference. An essential recent publication; see also the WWW Page listed under Internet Resources.

Dictionnaire Black. NX512.3.A35 P37 1995 ART REF. An A-Z dictionary of popular culture, which includes short entries for African-American topics or persons, with occasional short bibliographies. Interesting for its French perspective.

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. E185.E54 1995 Main Library Reference. This major 5-volume work includes entries on art collections in vol. 1, painting and sculpture in vol. 4, and many cross-references and biographies of figures such as James A. Porter.

Encyclopedia of World Art. N31.E533 1968 ART REF. The entry in Volume 1, "Afro-American Art" is dated but useful for its map of the diffusion and origins of Afro-American art.

Part A. The following three titles should be consulted first:

Cederholm. Afro-American Artists: a Bio-Bibliographical Directory. N6538.N5 C42 ART REF. The first major biographical dictionary of African-American artists, covering the colonial period to 1973. Includes exhibition catalogs; reviews; periodicals, including newspapers; and books. The A-Z entries include brief biographical information, lists of works and exhibitions, collections and reference sources for each artist. An essential work.

Igoe. 250 years of Afro-American Art: an Annotated Bibliography. N6538.N5I45 ART REF. A comprehensive work including 3900 artists covering three centuries. Generally, photographers, architects and designers are excluded. Basic, Artist, and Subject (topical and organizational) bibliographies, with appendices on anonymous artists and artist groups.

Thomison. The Black Artist in America: an Index to Reproductions. N6538.N5T46 1991 ART REF. Listing Black artists from the colonial period to the present, this source is useful as a biographical work; it cites reproductions that have appeared in books, periodicals and catalogs through 1990, including most media as well as folk art. Selective subject index, bibliography, list of institutions, audiovisual materials and exhibition catalogs.

Part B.

African-American Architects in Current Practice. NA738.N5 A45 1991 ART REF. Profiles 31 practicing architects, with a chronology of African-American architects 1868-1991, a map of the 810 practicing architects in the U.S., a list of organizations and short essays on the African-American architectural experience in America.

Afro-American Folk Art and Crafts. NK839.3.A35 A35 1986 ART REF. Covers quilters, sculptors, instrument-makers, basketmakers, builders, blacksmiths and potters from the colonial period. A lengthy bibliography, subject guide, filmography, and important essays such as Robert Farris Thompson's 1969 essay on African influences.

Black Artists on Art. N6538.N5 L4 ART REF. This 2-volume work by Samella Lewis is an illustrated survey of several hundred contemporary (1969) African-American artists and Black artists working in the U.S. Includes artists' statements and brief biographical entries at the end of the volumes.

Black Photographers, 1840-1940: an Illustrated Bio-Bibliography. TR139.W55 1985 ART REF and An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography of Black Photographers, 1940-1988. TR139.W55 1989 ART REF. Deborah Willis-Thomas' groundbreaking companion volumes are heavily illustrated, with excellent bibliographies and exhibition chronologies. Short biographical entries include exhibitions and collections in which works are included, as well as a selected bibliography.

Directory of People of Color in the Visual Arts. N6537.5.D57 1993 ART REF. 759 artists, art historians, critics and arts administrators are listed, with indexes by state, ethnicity and discipline.

Folk Artists Biographical Index. NK805.F63 1987 ART REF. Ethnicity is indicated in the artist entries; since a large proportion of folk artists are African-American this is an important source.

Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National Museum of American Art. N6538.N5 P44 1992 ART REF. While not a biographical work per se, this serves as a reference work, a cross-section of 31 artists from one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of African-American art (including the work of self-taught artists) from the colonial to contemporary period. Many illustrations, excellent bibliography of archival resources, books, exhibition catalogs, and articles, and a list of the African-American artists represented in the NMAA (105 as of 1992) which are searchable online (see Inventory of American Painting in the Internet section).

Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. NK808.R6 1990 ART REF. Black artists comprise a significant percentage of the total number of folk artists, and the Museum has held numerous exhibitions of African-American artists. An A-Z listing, with biographical information, exhibition lists, bibliography, list of public collections, and an index interspersed with photos of some of the 255 artists listed.

Twentieth-Century African-American Writers and Artists. NX512.3.A35 H43 1990 ART REF. An A-Z work which includes about 80 "prominent" painters and sculptors (i.e. who have exhibited in major museums.). Summary of artist's life, short critical note, exhibition and collections list and selected bibliography.

20th Century American Folk, Self-taught, and Outsider Art. NK805.S46 1993 ART REF. Guide to the artists, organizations, publishers,museums, and listing by state. Bibliography of books, exhibition catalogs and articles. NB: Excludes decoys, quilts and pottery.

African-American Artists, 1880-1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection. N6538.N5 M35 1989 EXH. One of the premier collections and archives of African-American artists' work in the U.S., the Evans-Tibbs Collection is located in Washington, DC.

Africobra: the First Twenty Years. N6538.N5 A3 1990 EXH. Africobra was a political movement with a black ideology founded in the 1960s.

Afro-American Collection, Fisk University. N6538.N5 V36 1976 REF. The collections at Fisk, including many African objects brought back by missionaries, were begun in the 19th century. The Harmon Foundation gave Fisk approximately 400 works of art in 1968. David Driskell, a former director, provides an essay in this catalog of 63 artists. Selected bibliography.

Against the Odds: African-American Artists and the Harmon Foundation. N6538.N5 R49 1989 EXH. The Foundation provided support to African-American artists beginning in the '30s. In the late '60s, its collections were dispersed among Fisk and Hampton Universities, the National Museum of American Art, and the National Portrait Gallery. This catalog includes an essay on early exhibitions of African-American art, and the Foundation's early activities. Biographical entries on the artists, and the exhibition record of the Foundation.

Baking in the Sun: Visionary Images from the South: Selections from the Collection of Sylvia Warren Lowe. N6538.N5 B35 1987 EXH. This catalog includes 16 'outsider' artists, both Black and White, 180 works of art; and a chapter on Africanisms in Afro-American visionary art.

Barnett-Aden Collection. N6538.N5 B37 1974 EXH. Founded in 1943 by James V. Herring and Alonzo J. Aden of Howard University, this gallery welcomed artists of every race. The catalog of this rich collection includes a brief survey of African-American art of the 19th and 20th centuries, and is heavily illustrated (120 ills.); biographies of the artists.

Black Art Ancestral Legacy: the African Impulse in African-American Art. N6538.N5 B525 1989 EXH. An essential work, a major exhibition catalog with scholarly essays. Forty-nine artists are represented, with substantial biographical entries and photos of the artists.

Black Folk Art in America, 1930-1980. N6538.N5 L58 EXH. Another major exhibition.

Black History and Artistry: Work by Self-Taught Painters from the Blanchard-Hill Collection. N6538.N5 B57 1993 EXH.

Blues Aesthetic: Black Culture and Modernism. NX512.3.A35 P68 1989 EXH.

Caribbean Festival Arts. GT4823.N85 1988 EXH

Exhibition of African Negro Art [Howard University, 1953]. N7398.H67 EXH. Curated by James V. Herring, who founded the Art Department at Howard, the first such program in a predominantly black institution of higher learning; in the '30s, Howard was the center for African-American art.

Exhibition of Productions by Negro Artists [Harmon Foundation]. N6538.N5 E96 1933 Permanent Reserve II.

Faces of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas. NK1085.75.T48 1993 EXH. An essential exhibition catalog by Robert Farris Thompson.

Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art. N6538.N5 K45 1994 EXH. A fine private collection assembled in just the space of a decade. Includes both trained and folk artists, 124 pieces/70 artists in this exhibition.

Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art, 1800-1950. N6538.N5 D73 1985 EXH. An exhibition curated by David Driskell to include artists not in the 1976 "Two Centuries" exhibition.

Negro Artists: an Illustrated Review of Their Achievements. N6538.N5 H34 1935 Permanent Reserve II. Another exhibition of the Harmon Foundation.

Next Generation: Southern Black Aesthetic. N6538.N5 N497 1990 EXH. An exhibition at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC, which often features African-American artists.

Two Centuries of Black American Art. N6538.N5 D74 1976 EXH. A landmark exhibition, the largest of its type at the time, of 63 artists from numerous public and private collections. Curated by David Driskell.

United American Healthcare Corporation Collection. N6538.N5 U44 1993 ART REF. Established in 1992, this Detroit collection includes 20th century works by African-American artists; the catalog features 10 artists from the collection, with 72 works of art.

Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art. N6538.N5 W34 1991 Permanent Reserve II. A major private collection of 19th and 20th century African-American art; catalog of a traveling exhibition.

American Visions
*Black American Literature Forum
Black Arts Annual
*Calalloo
International Review of African-American Art
*Journal of Black Studies
Third Text

Comic Art
African-American Comics Professionals: File of Clippings and Examples. PCVF COMICS SPC. Part of Special Collections' huge comic art collection.

Craft
Uncommon Beauty in Common Objects: the Legacy of African-American Craft Art. NK839.3.A35 U53 1993 EXH. Includes the work of contemporary artists, with an essay on the links with African traditions. Portraits of artists, bibliography.

Harlem Renaissance
Harlem on My Mind. F128.68.H3 S3 1995 EXH. The landmark 1968 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; this edition includes a foreword by Henry Louis Gates.

Harlem Renaissance: an Annotated Bibliography and Commentary. Z5956.A47 P47 1982 MAIN

The Harlem Renaissance: an Historical Dictionary for the Era. NX511.N4 H37 1984 ART REF and Main Library Reference. An A-Z dictionary of major figures, organizations and topics of this flowering of Black arts and letters during the '20s and '30s. Includes useful appendices, essential research on the HR, some illustrations, a chronology, and references at end of each entry.

Harlem Renaissance and the Negritude Movement. PQ3940.A39 Microfiche

Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. N6538.N5 H286 1994 EXH. This exhibition was held at the Studio Museum of Harlem, one of the premier venues for African-American art. Includes chronologies of the HR, and a selected bibliography.

Negritude Movement
Negritude: an Annotated Bibliography. PN56.N36 M53 1988 Consulting Reference

Representations of African-Americans
Boime. The Art of Exclusion: Representing Blacks in the Nineteenth Century. N8232.B57 1990

The Black Experience (American Historical Images on File) E185.B573 1990 Permanent Reserve I

Facing History: the Black Image in American Art, 1710-1940. N8232.M44 1990 EXH

Image of the Black in Western Art. Folio N8232.I46 1976b ART REF An essential resource.

Images of Blacks in American Culture: a Reference Guide to Information Sources. NX652.A37 I43 1988 ART REF This major work on popular culture includes an important essay on imagery by David Driskell, as well as a useful chapter on resources and collections.

Portrayal of the Negro in American Painting [exhibition at Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1964] N8323.B6 EXH. The first major exhibition of Blacks in American art, from the 18th century to the 20th, arranged chronologically. Included the 'first known American painting in which a Negro is portrayed.'

Women Artists
Bontemps. "African-American Women Artists: An Historical Perspective," Sage: a Scholarly Journal on Black Women.Vol. IV, No. 1 (Spring 1987) pp. 17-23.

Gumbo Ya-Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists. N6538.N5 G85 1995 ART REF. 172 artists listed, as well as a bio-bibliography and introductory survey of early artists.

Henks. Art of Black American Women: Works of Twenty-Four Artists of the Twentieth Century. N6538.N5 H45 1993

Hine. Black Women in America. Main Library Reference (see below) a major work by an MSU faculty member.

Moutoussamy-Ashe. Viewfinders: Black Women Photographers. Folio TR139.M63 1986.

Smith. Notable Black American Women. E185.96.N68 1992 Main Library Reference

Main Library Reference

African-American Almanac. E185.N345

Afro-American Folk Culture: an Annotated Bibliography of Materials from North, Central, and South America, and the West Indies. Folio Z5984.A44 S95 Consulting Reference

Afro-American Reference: an Annotated Bibliography of Selected Resources. E185.D27 1985 Consulting Reference

Black Authors and Illustrators of Children's Books: a Biographical Dictionary. PN1009.A1 R63 1988

Black Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia. Folio E 185.86.B542 1993

Black in the Humanities, 1750-1984: a Selected, Annotated Bibliography. E185.J697 1986 Consulting Reference

Catalog of Folklore, Folklife, and Folk Songs [Cleveland Public Library]. Z5985.C5 1978 Consulting Reference

Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Folio F209.E53 1989. Chapters on Black Life: African Influences; Art and Architecture; and Folklife.

Index to Afro-American Reference Resources. E185.S77 1988 Consulting Reference

G.K. Hall Index to Black Periodicals. AI3.O4 1999

Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture. Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies. Z1361.N39 N41 Consulting Reference

_______________. Dictionary Catalog of the Schomburg Collection. Z1361.N39 N4 Consulting Reference (See also the NYPL Catalog online and the Schomburg WWW Page.)

______________. Index to the Schomburg Clipping File. E185.S37 1986 Consulting Reference

_______________. Schomburg Center Guide to Black Literature from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. PN841.V36 1995