Biggers recalled later, “We stood around him in awe, watching this master draftsman model our heroes and ancestors… John Henry, Leadbelly, Shango and Harriet the Moses.” Biggers said he became White’s, “Unknown apprentice,” and did everything he could to help out.
Author Archives: TheWholeArtNebula
Carroll Harris Simms
“We were taught to be proud that we were Negroes… that the South was our homeland… that if we got an education, we should stay in the South afterwards and strive to better the condition of other Negroes by teaching them.”
Alma Thomas Part II
It was at Howard University, where Alma Thomas met professor James V. Herring. You might remember this professor from our coverage of the artist, curator and scholar, David Driskell. To refresh your memory, James V. Herring, was an artist himself and founded the art department at Howard University in 1922. Remember, Thomas enrolled in HowardContinue reading “Alma Thomas Part II”
Alma Thomas – Part I
The Thomas family lived in a large middle-class home on top of a hill surrounded by trees, gardens and flowers. Education was heavily emphasized in her the family and Alma had aunts that were school teachers who would invite other educators out to Columbus to visit. According to my favorite source, “A History of African-American Artists” by Romare Bearden and Harry Henderson, Booker T. Washington popped in every now and then as well.
Robert S. Duncanson – Part III
Robert Duncanson had a hard time finishing, “Land of the Lotus Eaters.” It’s hard to focus when your country’s in a civil war, I suppose. He did finally wrap it up and in May, he even exhibited it. You know, it never dawned on me to think about exhibitions happening during the Civil War. I’mContinue reading “Robert S. Duncanson – Part III”
Robert S. Duncanson – Part II
Robert S. Duncanson, fresh and wide-eyed, had only been in Cincinnati for maybe a couple of months when a tense exchange took place in the Summer of 1841 in Cincinnati, in, of all places, a candy shop! On June 25th, 1841, Cornelius Burnett, a White English immigrant who also happened to be an abolitionist, andContinue reading “Robert S. Duncanson – Part II”
Robert S. Duncanson – Part I
In doing the research for Duncanson, I had so much juicy information, that instead of trying to cram it all into one episode, I decided to really dig in and give you as much as I could, without going down a rabbit hole. So, unlike the other artists on this podcast, I’ve broken Duncanson’s story into three parts. In this one, of course, I’d like to cover his earliest years – Please note, though, that I won’t go too early because there’s not a lot of information on his childhood.
Langston Hughes: A brief history and a story
Langston Hughes was born, James Mercer Langston Hughes on February 1, 1902, in Joplin Missouri. He was partially named after his grandfather, John Mercer Langston, a free born attorney, abolitionist and politician and the founding dean of Howard University’s law school. Hughes had a complicated upbringing, his dad left the family shortly after his birthContinue reading “Langston Hughes: A brief history and a story”
Louis Delsarte: The People’s Painter
According to the Louis Delsarte website, Delsarte’s parents were friends with artists and entertainers from the Harlem Renaissance like Lena Horne, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes. Back then, it wasn’t called the Harlem Renaissance, it was called, “The New Negro Movement,” after the 1925 anthology edited by Alaine Locke titled, “The New Negro.”Continue reading “Louis Delsarte: The People’s Painter”
David C. Driskell – Part II
This is Part II of the two part series on David C. Driskell. I’ve listed my sources for the last two episodes below. Also, when you get a chance, watch the HBO documentary titled, “Black Art: In the Absence of Light.” It’s based upon one of Driskell’s major exhibitions he organized and curated. Sources: Genzlinger,Continue reading “David C. Driskell – Part II”
The Whole Art Nebula 