MOMENT IN ART BLACK HISTORY
Charles Alston
Birth Year : 1907
Death Year : 1977
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1907 Alston's interest in art began early. He received the art award in Grammar School and was actively involved in the arts throughout High School. In 1925 he enrolled at Columbia University in New York City where he studied art and art history. Upon receiving his undergraduate degree, he was
awarded the Arthur Wesley Dow Fellowship, enabling him to earn his Masters Degree in Fine Arts at Columbia's Teachers College.
He began his career as a commercial artist working on book jackets, record covers and magazines. Alston was a successful commercial artist, working for leading magazines such as Fortune, Collier's, Mademoiselle and Men's Wear. However, commercial art demanded compromises and restrictions on his style, eventually driving Alston out of the field in pursuit of a more personal form of artistic expression; stating, "I felt that I could do good painting and that I was selling myself cheap." In 1950 the Metropolitan Museum of Art held its first exhibition of contemporary art. Along with nearly 4,000 other artists, Alston entered a painting for competition and was one of the few chosen for purchase. He considered this moment "an exoneration or certification . . . the thing that made me feel comfortable with my decision."
In that same year the Art Students League selected Alston as their first African American instructor. By the mid-1950s the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Butler Institute of Art and IBM housed his works in their permanent collections. During this period he also completed murals for the Museum of Natural History and the Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. In 1969 Alston was appointed a "painter member" of the New York City Art Commission, which approved all designs for city buildings and works of art on city property. He was the first African American to achieve this post.
Alston's artistic style defies simple categorization and definition. His works range from detailed drawings concerned with realism, depth and modeling to extreme abstraction concerned with simplicity, flatness and pure expression. His art always remained to him an outlet for personal expression and growth, unbound by the restrictions of one particular genera. To Alston, "The whole creative thing is one of exploration of new or different areas," and in "developing or exploring an idea until you've gotten out of it everything you can, and beyond that, looking for unexplored areas."
The diversity of Alston's style reflects influences ranging from Egyptian and Oceanic art to more contemporary artistic styles like Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. However, his figures characteristically maintain a sculpture like quality derived from his earlier studies in African sculpture. His subjects, however, were derived mainly from the experiences of his life and time. As such they deal with the toils and triumphs of African Americans in the decades of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Alston states, "As an artist . . . I am intensely interested in probing, exploring the problems of color, space and form, which challenge all contemporary painters. However, as a black American . . . I cannot but be sensitive and responsive in my painting to the injustice, the indignity, and the hypocrisy suffered by black citizens."
On April 27, 1977 Charles Alston died of cancer. His body of work seeks the universal artistic goal of aesthetically depicting the truth within the prism of his life experiences. In his words he tells us, "Art is the pursuit of truth as an artist perceives it. It can also be a powerful and effective weapon in the struggle for human decency."
Jean-Michel Basquiat
NAME: Jean-Michel Basquiat
OCCUPATION: Painter
BIRTH DATE: December 22, 1960
DEATH DATE: August 12, 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH: Brooklyn, New York
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an artist of the 1980s who is credited with bringing the African-American and Latino experience to the elite art world. Born in Brooklyn to a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, he drew much of his inspiration from his diverse heritage. He collaborated with famed pop artist Andy Warhol. Basquiat died of a drug overdose at the age of 27.
American artist. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960. With a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat's diverse cultural heritage was one of his many sources of inspiration. A self-taught artist, Basquiat first attracted attention for his graffiti under the name "SAMO" in New York City. He sold sweatshirts and postcards featuring his artwork on the streets before his painting career took off. He participated in his first group show in 1980 and had his first one-man exhibition in Milan, Italy, the following year. Basquiat collaborated with famed pop artist Andy Warhol in the mid-1980s, which resulted in a show of their work. He became an internationally known artist, receiving critical acclaim for the fusion of words, symbols, stick figures, and animals found in his work.
Basquiat died of a drug overdose on August 12, 1988. He was 27. Although his art career was brief, he has been credited with bringing the African-American and Latino experience in the elite art world.
