BLACK ARTISTS ON ART Volumes 1 and 2
First editions (both) of the complete two-volume set, inscribed by editor Samella Lewis to contributor and noted Harlem Renaissance artist Loïs Mailou Jones.
Very good plus in very good jackets.
Price: $2,500.00
BLACK ARTISTS ON ART Volumes 1 and 2
"The adaptation of this European-imposed style of aesthetics may be regarded more as ancestor worship rather than as a valid system of aesthetics. A truly valid system of aesthetics should be derived from the culture of its inhabitants and should reflect the prevailing spirit of the times in a manner that involves all groups residing in the society."
Self-published in 1969, this "influential" (Jo-Ann Morgan) Black Arts Movement visual anthology was the brainchild of editors Lewis and Waddy, along with E.J. Montgomery. It was dedicated to "the unique vision of African American artists the need for the mainstream to expand notions of aesthetic beauty," a project that eventually grew into the magazine BLACK ART, the "first periodical devoted to African American and African Diaspora artists" (Jones 56-7). This set is inscribed to contributor Loïs Mailou Jones (Lois Jones Pierre-Noel), whose work appears on pages 97-8 of the first volume. Jones's work is in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Hirshhorn, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, and The Phillips Collection. Other noted contributors include: Betye Saar, Jacob Lawrence, and Elizabeth Carlett, among more than 100, predominately West Coast artists. As the 2022 exhibition at the Crocker Art Museum based on BLACK ARTISTS attested: "BLACK ARTISTS ON ART brought attention to the many notable Black artists who were neglected or overlooked by the mainstream art world. More than 50 years later, [the book] is foundational to the arts community, acting as a record of the collaborative effort of Black artists throughout the country to unite and discuss their work." An important association of this uncommon and historic collection.
Read more: Morgan, The Black Arts Movement and the Black Panther Party in American Visual Culture; Kelly, "Black West, Thoughts on Art in LA," in New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement (2006).
The Object
First printing. (Los Angeles): (Contemporary Crafts Publishers), (1969 and 1971). Two volumes; 10.25'' x 7''. Original full dark-grey cloth, both. In original unclipped ($14.50 and $12.50 respectively) color photographic jackets. xi, 132, [1]; xii, 140 pages. Loosely laid in are a promotional brochure for Volume 1, as well as an invitation to a 1977 Studio Museum exhibition of Black artists. Inscribed by editor Lewis on the front endpaper of Volume I: "Many thanks / for your contribution / Samella Lewis / 1969." Contributor Loïs Mailou Jones's copies, with her Cranston King-designed pictorial bookplates to the front pastedowns of each volume, and her ownership signature to the front free endpaper of Volume 2. Volume 1 jacket with several closed tears and one tape repair to verso. Some creasing, rubbing. Minor edgewear to jacket of Volume 2. Order form for the book taped to rear pastedown of Volume 1. Faint toning internally. Touches of shelfwear overall. Else clean and sound.
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