This guide will help you find books and other materials at the San Francisco Public Library related to the topic of the African American art and artists. This bibliography was created in conjunction with MoAD (Museum of African Diaspora) for the exhibit The Hewitt Collection of African American Art. If you need further help finding materials, be sure to ask the library staff for guidance. Materials can be found throughout the SFPL’s 27 branches as well as at the Main Library. You will especially want to check out the African American Center on the third floor of the Main Library as well as the Bayview Branch Library.
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- African-American Art
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This book provides a major reassessment of the subject of African American art, setting the art in the context of the African-American experience. 70 color illustrations. 5 linecuts. Good historical overview of African American art.
704.0396 P278a - African American art and artists
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Drawing from historical and private collections around the country, Samella Lewis has gathered an impressive representation of the work of African American artists, from the 18th century to the present.
704.0396 L588A - Against the odds: the artists of the Harlem Renaissance
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Narrated by actor Joe Morton, the documentary of how black artists triumphed over formidable odds.
VIDEO 704.03 AGAI - Black art: a cultural history
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The African diaspora generated a wide array of artistic achievements in the past century, from blues to reggae, from the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner to the video installations of Keith Piper. Powell's study concentrates on the works of art themselves and on how these works use black culture as both subject and context. 190 illustrations. Black Art gives great insight into the world of black before, during and after the Harlem Renaissance period.
704.0396 P871b - Black artists on art
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709.73 L589b Vols. 1-2
- Directions in Afro-American art: [exhibition] September 18 through October 27, 1974
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709.73 ZH415d
- The Harlem Renaissance
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This book offers a guided tour through the Harlem Renaissance, examining inspiring works of art and literature that endure to this day. Short section on artists, both known and not, from the period.
700.8996 H2735h - Harlem renaissance: art of black America
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This book and the exhibition focuses on movement members Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, William H. Johnson, Palmer Hayden, and James Van Der Zee, whose work represents some of the best of the period in painting, sculpture, and photography. Textual accompaniment offers diligent, enthusiastic critical and social discussions of the movement itself and, specifically, these five artists.
709.73 H226 - The Harlem renaissance: hub of African-American culture, 1920-1930
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Harlem Renaissance focuses on writers, artists, poets, hostesses and patrons who played a role in this important 20th century movement. Watson explores the lively and fascinating people who helped bring about what became known as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
700.8996 W337h - A history of African-American artists: from 1792 to the present
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Landmark work of art history: lavishly illustrated and extraordinary for its thoroughness, A History of African-American Artists -- conceived, researched, and written by the great American artist Romare Bearden with journalist Harry Henderson, who completed the work after Bearden's death in 1988.
704.0396 B38h - Narratives of African American art and identity: the David C. Driskell collection
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One of the most exciting and eclectic celebrations of African American art ever published, Narratives of African American Art and Identity showcases one hundred paintings, etchings, sculptures, and photographs from the collection of David C. Driskell.
REF 704.0396 N167 - Rhapsodies in black: art of the Harlem Renaissance
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This catalog reflects the Harlem Renaissance's impressive range of art forms from literature and music to photography and graphic design. The works include not only those by artists based in New York, but also those from other parts of the U.S., the Caribbean, and Europe.
704.0396 R3415 - Something all our own: the Grant Hill collection of African American art
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The six-time NBA All-Star for the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic shares his collection of art by African Americans in this book, includes an essay on the history of African-American art by curator Alvia J. Wardlaw, and exquisite full-color photographs of Hill's 46-piece collection.
704.0396 H552s - 250 years of Afro-American art: an annotated bibliography
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REF 016.7097
- The Walter O. Evans collection of African American art
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Eighty color plates illustrate the aesthetic legacy created by African American artists over more than 150 years.
704.0396 B267w
JUVENILE TITLES ON THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE:
- Artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance
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Biographic sketches of well known Harlem Renaissance artists.
j700.9239 Beck - Extraordinary people of the Harlem Renaissance
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This clearly written book is packed with information on 44 notable individuals of the period. Extraordinary people of the Harlem Renaissance only list a handful of visual artists but book gives a concise picture of the period.
jJ700.9239 Hard - Li'l Dan, the drummer boy: a Civil War story
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The only children's book ever written and illustrated by the legendary American artist, this is the story of a young slave who teaches himself to play the drum.
jF Bear - Romare Bearden: collage of memories
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The only biography for youngsters of one of the 20th century's most influential African-American artists.
j709.2 Bear - Story painter: the life of Jacob Lawrence
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The paintings of Jacob Lawrence tell stories. Stories of enslavement and freedom, of human migration and renaissance, of struggle and of triumph. A collection of these stunning paintings provides the backdrop for this exceptional biography which tells the story of one of our finest living painters-from his family's experience in the great migration North, to his growing up in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance.
j759.13 Lawr - Wake up our souls: a celebration of Black American artists
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This book highlights influential and important 20th-century artists, from the early part of the century to the Harlem Renaissance to the contemporary art scene.
j704.0396 Bold
MATERIALS ON INDIVIDUAL HARLEM RENAISSANCE ARTISTS:
ROMARE BEARDEN:
- The Art of Romare Bearden
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Bearden is best known for his murals documenting the African American experience and the worlds of Harlem and North Carolina. In this film, he talks about what influenced his art, including travel to Europe, the Harlem Renaissance, and interactions with other artists.
VIDEO 759.13 Bear or DVD 709.2 Art - Romare Bearden in black-and-white: photomontage projections, 1964
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709.2 B38g
- Romare Bearden, 1970-1980: an exhibition
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REF 709.73 B3795m
- Romare Bearden: Odysseus, collages: April 27 to May 28, 1977
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709.73 B3795o
JOHN T. BIGGERS:
- Ananse, the web of life in Africa
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An account of a 1957 trip to Ghana, Nigeria, and other West African countries, first published in 1962, by an American artist searching for an understanding of his African heritage.
741.973 B483a - The art of John Biggers: view from the upper room
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The text is filled with both color and b&w images which document the powerful spiritual symbols and geometric techniques Biggers developed to create his unique but universal mythology.
759.13 W219a - Elizabeth Catlett: an American artist in Mexico
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In this illustrated monograph, Herzog documents the full range of Catlett's life and work. In addition to thoroughly researching primary source materials and critiquing individual art works, she has conducted numerous interviews with the artist and has analyzed the political context of her work and her diverse sympathies and allegiances.
730.92 C289h - Gullah images : the art of Jonathan Green
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The Gullah population of South Carolina's barrier islands descends from the people of West Africa's Gold Coast. Most of the barrier islands did not have transportation to the mainland until 1940; some still don't. This isolation guaranteed that the Gullah would experience little North American acculturation. Jonathan Green was born into this society and, through his paintings, has become one of its chroniclers. The more than 180 handsomely reproduced paintings included here capture the vibrancy of the Gullah community.
REF 759.13 G8235u - Jacob Lawrence [videorecording]: an intimate portrait presented by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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A collage of the interior and exterior lives of one of America's most influential artists, interweaving interviews with Lawrence himself, together with his wife, colleagues and critics, and Lawrence's paintings.
VIDEO 759.13 LAWR - Jacob Lawrence: the migration series
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This volume reproduces Lawrence's epic, sixty-panel series of paintings depicting the post-World War I migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial North. This work is a major contribution to African-American history.
759.13 L432T - Jacob Lawrence: paintings, drawings, and murals (1935-1999): a catalogue raisonné
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This volume, along with its companion book, Over the Line 759.13 L437n 2001, is the result of over five years' effort to document Lawrence's entire artistic output, directed by Nesbett and DuBois and with the participation of the artist.
759.13 L437n2 - Henry Ossawa Tanner
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This book takes a new look at the life and artistic career of Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), the renowned African-American artist who spent most of his life in France after declaring in 1891 that he could 'not fight prejudice and paint at the same time.'
759.1 T157mo - Henry Ossawa Tanner
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From 19th century America, to the Salons and ateliers of turn of the century Paris, Henry Ossawa Tanner overcame obstacles of race and art to become one of the greatest American painters of his time.
VIDEO 759.1 HE - Henry Ossawa Tanner, American artist
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759.1 T157m
- HARLEM RENAISSANCE
- HARLEM RENAISSANCE--BIBLIOGRAPHY
- HARLEM RENAISSANCE--ENCYCLOPEDIAS
- HARLEM RENAISSANCE--JUVENILE LITERATURE
- TANNER, HENRY OSSAWA; LAWRENCE, JACOB or (INDIVIDUAL ARTIST NAME)
- AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS
- AFRICAN AMERICAN ART
- AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS
ELIZABETH CATLETT:
JONATHAN GREEN:
JACOB LAWRENCE:
HENRY OSSAWA TANNER:
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY SUBJECT LISTED HERE, CHECK THE SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY CATALOG FOR THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS OR ASK A LIBRARIAN FOR FURTHER RESEARCH HELP:
This bibliography on African American Artist was put together by the San Francisco Public Library, African American Center for the opening of the exhibition The Hewitt Collection of African American Art on view from October 17, 2008 – January 11, 2009 at the Museum of the African Diaspora, 685 Mission Street, SF, CA 94105, www.moadsf.org. This bibliography is part of a collaboration between SFPL and MoAD that encourages further education and reading on topics pertaining to the African American art and artists.
