African American Art Appreciation is a blog dedicated to introducing the reader to different pieces of art throughout history that features African American artists. There are many pieces of art from the early 1900’s and before that are beautiful and should be appreciated, but not necessarily recognized for their value as art. Hopefully this blog will open your eyes to arts outside of what you have been accustomed to while also educating you on African American artists who made significant contributions to American history. Enjoy!
The African American Art Appreciation Blog introduces the reader to various pieces of art throughout history that feature African Americans. The blog also provides a brief background on the artist and an image of their work. The blog is written in a way that provides interested readers with a brief lesson on art appreciation. It is well organized, informative, and professional.
The site has a simple layout. There is no navigation bar at the top, but rather a search bar and secondary links that appear below each blog post. On the left side of the page is a list of tags that visitors can click on to view all posts associated with each topic. Each post also has a title, author information, thumbnail image, date posted, number of comments, and an “about” section. The content of each post varies; some give information about the artist and their work, while others provide images of paintings or sculptures and allow users to click on each individual piece for more information. The writing in these posts is informal but well-polished. It includes many examples from everyday life to illustrate different points about the artist or their work; for example:
“So if you find yourself in New York City this summer, stop by Harlem’s Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture and see what you
The history of African American art is often forgotten. Here is a blog that focuses on the history of art and its contributions to society.
The African American Art Appreciation Blog was created in July 2012 by Jamila Jackson, a high school student who plans on attending college to pursue a degree in Art History. The purpose of this blog is to offer young students of African American art an opportunity to learn about different artists and the artwork they created. There are many interesting pieces throughout time that feature African Americans in the artwork. This blog hopes to introduce readers to artists such as Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, and Elizabeth Catlett, whose works are often forgotten or overlooked by society. The author will also be discussing works from famous figures such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Norman Rockwell, who were influenced by African American artists. By writing this blog I hope to expose others to the interesting history of African American art and show how it has contributed to society.
Art appreciation is an enjoyable way to learn about culture and history. The art of African Americans is no different, and it is gaining popularity as more and more people take the time to appreciate its beauty.
Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” I hope that this blog will help inspire appreciation of the beautiful art produced by African Americans throughout history.
There are a lot of African American pieces you can look at and appreciate. There are paintings, drawings, and sculptures that include African Americans. These pieces range from the eighteenth century to present day. You can find some pieces in museums or art galleries, but there are others that can only be found in books.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, African slaves were brought to America to work as servants. This is when slaves began creating what became known as African American Art. It has its roots in West African art and culture. The European influence on it came about because of slavery and the access that European had to their work. In the early part of the eighteenth century, artwork was created by people like William Edmondson who were indentured servants or from free blacks who had already made a name for themselves in art. Some of these artists were even slaves who had been allowed by their masters to paint.
Towards the end of slavery, there were more opportunities for African Americans to study art and become professionals. There was also a growth in Black colleges which gave people more opportunity to learn about art history and many other subjects related to art like sculpture and drawing. By the end of the nineteenth century, people such as Henry Ossawa Tanner created works
This blog is a wonderful site that offers works of art from different time periods and cultures. The images are large and the descriptions are great and very detailed. This is an excellent source for anyone who is interested in African American art history.
The first painting featured on this blog is “The Banjo Lesson” by Jacob Lawrence. It was painted in 1941. This piece deals with the migration of blacks from the south to the north for work during the Great Migration. The man in the painting is teaching his daughter how to play the banjo, a traditional instrument among African Americans. His daughter is sitting cross-legged on a chair, holding the banjo in her lap, while he sits next to her on a stool and holds one of the instrument’s strings as it stretches across her lap.
The second painting featured in this blog is “Cotton Pickers” by Aaron Douglas. It was created in 1937, during a period when many artists were using art to depict their feelings about racial discrimination in America. This painting depicts two black field workers picking cotton. The woman looks over at the man as she picks cotton, and his eyes follow hers. They look towards the horizon where it appears there will be another day of picking cotton under the hot sun.”
The African American culture spans over a vast period of time. It began when the Africans were brought to America from Africa. The art and culture that was created in Africa is referred to as African Art and was influenced by the land, people, nature, and animals of Africa. African American art is the idea of Black Americans creating their own art or modifying that which came from Africa.
Tolu Olorunda (1998- ) is a contemporary artist who uses various media such as photography, video, installation, performance, and painting to address topics such as race, gender, sexuality and identity. She has received numerous grants for her work including the Creative Capital Award in 2009 for her project entitled “The Sweet Flypaper of Life.” Her piece entitled “African American History” uses images of ordinary black people with their name written below them to bring attention to their importance in history. In 1997 she created a piece called “New Jersey Hallucinations” which was her interpretation of the riots in New Jersey after the beating of Rodney King. This piece was made up of three monitors displaying film footage and still images while a soundtrack played in the background.
Tolu Olorunda’s use in African American art expresses how African American culture is evolving and not just stuck within stereotypes of
