An Art Museum’s Tribute to How Black Artists Have Shaped American Culture From the 50s to 70s

Black artists have powerfully impacted American culture through their creativity and compelling art, particularly during the mid-century. The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California, is showcasing an exhibition that opened February 4 and closes May 19. “Black Artists in America, from Civil Rights to the Bicentennial” features forty-eight Black artists with a broad range of styles, subjects, and mediums, from the 1950s to the 1970s.

This pivotal time period saw the emerging Black Power and Civil Rights movements, as Black artists’ styles were changing, and they were redefining their artistic voice. Over these three decades, a bold generation of Black artists began drawing inspiration from a range of styles to convey their messages. 

1.) Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden is probably the Crocker’s most well-known artist. Bearden initially studied under German painter George Grosz before switching to collage in 1964. He used colored paper, cut-up photographs, and found images to reinvigorate collage, depicting everyday life in the rural South and in Harlem. Bearden’s technique of starting with a large rectangle and working smaller shapes around it is seen in “The Prevalence of Ritual, Tidings.” Bearden’s influence on American culture has been long-lasting.

2.) Alma Woodsey Thomas

Alma Woodsey Thomas’s style became more abstract and developed during the 1950s to the 70s, making a mark on American culture. After retiring from teaching at sixty-eight, Thomas began painting, and her 1976 “Sunset Duet” is both tranquil and energetic, with vibrant hues of purple and red clashing and struggling for space. At eighty-one, Thomas was the first female Black artist to feature a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.  

3.) Charles White

Charles White is known mostly for his black-and-white, realistic portrayals of Black people in America. However, White’s 1966 oil painting titled “Fulfillment” is being displayed at the Crocker. Used metaphorically for the exhibition, it features a female figure standing and looking outward in confidence above viewers in gray and orange drapery. 

4.) Cliff Joseph

Cliff Joseph’s artwork, known for its social commentary, is featured in this show, along with other artists’ work on this theme. Joseph’s “Superman” is a compelling mixed-media painting that shows a half-skeltal white male holding symbols and tools of racism. Joseph admitted his art is confrontational in American culture and felt that an oppressive system feared the power art had “in the hands of the people.”

5.) Minnie Evans

Minne Evans combines pencil, crayon, oil paint, and collage on small canvases to create kaleidoscopic works, such as “Four Figures.” Evans based her images on the Bible, combining flowers and her own visions, adding to America’s artistic culture. An art dealer showed her how to move her artworks into the mainstream after she’d been selling them for fifty cents each. 

6.) James Phillips

The work of James Phillips illustrates the impact music had on his art. Phillips joined the artist group AfriCOBRA, which was committed to using African aesthetics and iconography to make positive political statements through art. He created “Prince of Peace,” his mixed media work on an album cover. The color patterns alternate between Black artists John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman’s bold saxophone bursts. 

February is Black History Month

Unity Lewis, historian, musician, artist, and curator of Crocker’s 2022  exhibit, “Black Artists on Art,” stated, “The Crocker went the extra mile to make new acquisitions for this show, like the piece titled ‘Migrants’ by my grandmother, Dr. Samella Lewis.” He considers one of the museum’s must-sees the inclusion of local students’ poems, a great addition to Black History Month, celebrating young Black voices. Before it ends, make a point to visit the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento to see how Black artists have helped shape American culture during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.