African American artists occupy an important, though often overlooked place in the history of American art. This lecture surveys the creative work of African American artists from the colonial period through the 1960s—artists including Joshua Johnson, Robert Duncanson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Beauford Delaney, and Norman Lewis, among others. In addition to examining their diverse subjects and styles, this lecture also places the work of African American artists within broader social, political, and cultural contexts.
