Talks & Conversations

A Snapshot of Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955-1985

Ming Smith, Sun Ra Space II, New York, New York, 1978, gelatin silver print, Charina Endowment Fund, 2017.42.1

Join us for a 30-minute “snapshot” of Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985. We’ll orient you to the themes of the exhibition and look closely at a few images together. With this introduction in mind, explore the rest of the exhibition at your own pace.

This program takes place on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays between October 5, 2025, and January 11, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Meet at the West Building Rotunda.

For groups of 15 or more people, please schedule a group experience.

Sign-language interpreters and guides for visitors who are blind or have low vision are available for programs. Please call (202) 737-4215 or email [email protected] three weeks in advance for an appointment.

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An armored man on horseback hands a piece of emerald-green cloth down to the nearly nude man standing next to him in this slightly stylized, vertical painting. Both men have light skin, and they, along with the horse, nearly fill the composition. To our right, the bright white horse stands angled to our right with the front left hoof raised. It has a smoke-gray mane, and wears a black bridle. The man riding the horse has short, copper-blond hair and a long face with a pointed chin. He looks down at the ground with dark eyes under black, arched brows. He has a long, thin nose, and his small lips are closed and framed by the faint suggestion of a mustache. He wears a white ruff pleated into figure-eights over his high-necked armor, which is liberally outlined and decorated with gold against the pewter-colored plates. He grips the voluminous, green cape in one hand and holds a sword in the other, down by the leg we can see. The cleanshaven man next to him, to our left, looks off to our right in profile. He has close-cropped, dark hair and smooth skin. His lips are parted, and he tips his head slightly away from us. He holds the green cloth with the hand closer to the horse and gestures down with his other pointer finger, in front of his hip. A white cloth bandage is wrapped around one shin, and he rests his weight on the other leg. The horse and man stand on a curving spit of brown earth. A spring-green landscape dips down behind them, running low near the bottom edge of the painting. The horizon comes about a quarter of the way up the composition, and fog-gray and white clouds create thin screens across the topaz-blue sky. The loose brushstrokes are visible in some areas, especially in the landscape and clothing. The artist signed his name in Greek near the lower right corner.

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