Talks & Conversations

Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect

Book Discussion
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Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect (2026)

 

Richard J. Powell’s research reveals how color can strike a chord for freedom and reclamation in art and life. Join the author for a conversation on his newest book, Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect, with the National Gallery’s associate curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic art, Kanitra Fletcher. The book is based on Powell’s presentation of the 2022 A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts at the National Gallery.

A book signing will follow the conversation with copies available for purchase.

Richard J. Powell

Richard J. Powell is the John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University. His many books include Going There: Black Visual Satire, Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture, and Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson. 

Kanitra Fletcher

Kanitra Fletcher is the associate curator of African American and Afro-Diasporic art at the National Gallery of Art, where she has organized exhibitions including the US tour of Afro-Atlantic Histories, Chakaia Booker: Treading New Ground, and Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti. She also curated the exhibition American Icon: The US Flag in Art, which is on view until December 6.  

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