As a child, Gertrude Ann Graves had difficulty expressing herself. She stuttered. She wasn’t as lovely as her sister, whom relatives gushed over. She was a quiet girl who retreated to an apple tree on…
Category: Art
African American ceramics artists lost in history
Posted in Art, Black history, and pottery
A young Isaac Scott Hathaway had slipped away from his father and sisters at the Cleveland museum. He went looking for a specific sculpture that he was certain would be there. Finally, the Rev. R.E.…
There is something familiar about the people in the artwork of Tom McKinney. The two elderly men pontificating on a stoop could be your uncles. The little girl with bold expressive eyes could be your…
Hair-care labels by African American designer Charles Dawson
Posted in Art, Ephemera/Paper/Documents, and Uncategorized
It took a minute for the revelation to sink in. There in front of me were images of some of the hair-care product labels I had picked up years ago at a collectibles’ show. They…
Jazz in the name of artist Verna Hart
Posted in Art
My friend Al couldn’t believe it. And neither could I. I had bumped into him at an art show and sale at a gallery in Wilmington, DE, some years ago when a jazz painting by…
Reproduction prints are Charles White’s nod to the masses
Posted in Art, and Ephemera/Paper/Documents
I was rummaging through the loads of documents, photos and other papers I’ve picked up at auction over the years and found a portfolio of four reproduction prints by African American artist Charles White. They…
As I drove down the narrow one-way street tight with cars on both sides, I kept an eye out for artist Dindga McCannon’s house. Look for the purple steps, she had told me after I…
The two sisters had come to the auction with enough money – they thought – to buy a painting by their Uncle Henry. They wanted to give it to his grand-daughter. They waited and waited…
The woman in the back was apparently so excited that she started waving her hand. Auctioneer Nicholas D. Lowry, wearing another of his trademark plaid suits, jokingly warned that he might include her in the…
As I was flipping through the catalog for the upcoming auction of artwork from Johnson Publishing Company, I quickly noticed that most of the artists were from Chicago where the company was located. I had…