12 Anniversary Preview

12th Anniversary 20 www.antiquesandfineart.com African Americans and the American Scene, 1929–1945 Williams College Museum of Art, 15 Lawrence Hill Drive, Williamstown, MA Through April 22, 2012 For information call 413.597.2429 or visit www.wcma.org This exhibition explores the role of African Americans in the visual and performing arts during the Great Depression. As the nation experienced a profound crisis of identity, artists began to pic- ture the “American Scene,” subjects culled from daily life such as farms, labor, picnics, and landscapes; African American culture was used as source material for many era depictions. Federal funding for the arts during the depression provided opportunities for white and black artists alike. Through visual art, dance, and film, the exhibition endeavors to sift through the complexities of racial representation in art and the social inclusion and exclusion that affected black artists and performer’s access to their medium of choice. Artists featured in this exhibition include Thomas Hart Benton, Walker Evans, Robert Gwathmey, Dorothea Lange, Aaron Siskind, and Marion Post Wolcott. Artwork by African American artists Samuel Brown, Jacob Lawrence, and William H. Johnson are included. The visual art from the 30s and 40s will be paired with Barbara Morgan’s photographs of African American modern dancer Pearl Primus and artistic storyboards from the film Emperor Jones , starring Paul Robeson. HIGHLI G H T S Robert Gwathmey (1903–1988), Sun-Up , ca. 1948. Oil on canvas. Williams College Museum of Art, Gift of Elia Kazan, Class of 1930 (68.12). © Estate of Robert Gwathmey/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photography by Jim Gipe, Pivot Media and Stephen Petegorsky. works the exhibition examines the ways that Bearden experimented, innovated, and collaborated as a printmaker. “Bearden was influenced by Dutch por- trait artists, among them de Hooch and Rembrandt,” says Deborah Emont Scott, director/CEO of the Taft, “and his contemporary perspective on portraits and historical subjects offers a new way to look at some of the Taft’s collection.” Adds the museum’s chief curator Lynne Ambrosini, “Bearden has always been admired for his masterful collages. Less well known—and perhaps even more innovative — are his prints, which continue his characteristic cut- and-paste kaleidoscope but translate it into a wide variety of printmaking techniques.” The exhibition will travel through 2013. Continued from page 18 Romare Bearden (1911–1988), The Family , 1975 . Etching and Aquatint (working proof), 19½ x 26 inches.