In this painting, a pile of apples is spread out on a wooden surface, with some stacked atop each other. The apples are predominantly red, but some have large patches of light green or yellow. They have short brown stems. The main pile of apples is slightly to the left of center, and some apples are away from the pile, towards the edges of the surface. The apples cast shadows on the wooden surface, suggesting a light coming from the right side. The light also reflects off of the apples. Behind the apples is a dark gray wall.
Charles Ethan Porter, Still Life with Apples, 1886, oil on canvas, Gift of Lisa Unger Baskin, in honor of Emma Nogrady Kaplan and Sidney Kaplan, 2013.131.1

Black Artists

Explore works by Black artists through more than two centuries.

Browse the works of artists from 19th century painters Joshua Johnson and Robert Seldon Duncanson—to modern and contemporary artists Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Kerry James Marshall, Charles White, Gordon Parks, Alma Thomas, Kara Walker, and more.

Selected works

  • This sculpture is a large ceramic jar. It is made from brown, glazed material with a glossy finish. The jar is cylindrical with a wide opening at the top and two small, rounded handles near the rim. There are carved lines of text or markings around the upper portion of the jar near the rim.
  • In this painting, a pile of apples is spread out on a wooden surface, with some stacked atop each other. The apples are predominantly red, but some have large patches of light green or yellow. They have short brown stems. The main pile of apples is slightly to the left of center, and some apples are away from the pile, towards the edges of the surface. The apples cast shadows on the wooden surface, suggesting a light coming from the right side. The light also reflects off of the apples. Behind the apples is a dark gray wall.
  • A scene with a person holding a cornucopia is set against a night sky on this wood block. The person has peachy-brown skin and long silvery hair. A piece of drapery, also silver, flows around the hips as the person holds a cornucopia angled down and to the left. Blue and green material pours or hangs out of the horn. The person is contained within a silver oval frame. Fifteen green teardrop- or sperm-shaped orbs approach the oval to the left and fourteen approach from the right. Everything described so far is shown in low relief on the wood block. A translucent star is pinned or nailed to the panel near the top left corner and a translucent, crescent moon to the top right. To either side of the person are textured triangular shapes. The form to the left is green and points up, like a mountain, and the form to the right is blue and points in, like a cresting wave. Both have ragged edges and appear to be carved and affixed with nails, the heads of which are visible. Two translucent rectangles, possibly the same material as the star and moon, lie side-by-side between the green and blue forms on the bottom edge of the block.
  • Painted and drawn with areas of flat, vibrant colors, we look slightly down onto a bustling street market in this stylized, horizontal scene. It is created almost entirely with shades of sky and royal blue, buttercup and harvest yellow, caramel and ash brown, and spearmint green with only a few touches of brick and crimson red. The people all have black-colored skin with their features outlined in white. They sit, stand, gather, or walk along stalls lining the street that extends away from us. Some wear caps, headdresses, or are bareheaded. They wear wraps or togas that mostly leave arms bare. Some carry goods on their heads, sit and eat, hold children and babies, or reach for wares. One person holds a white chicken and another leads a couple of goats along the street. The inverted, narrow V of the street meets the shallow V of the rooflines of the buildings or awnings of the stalls just above the center of the composition. The upside-down triangular filling the distant area between the rooflines has a dark yellow ground where densely packed tables, carts, buildings, people, and several chickens are tiny in scale. A strip of blue along the top edge of the painting suggests the sky above. The artist signed and dated the work in graphite in the lower right corner, “Jacob Lawrence 64.”
  • Printed with black against cream-white paper, a woman pointing to our right nearly fills this vertical linocut. Her body is angled slightly to our right, and she looks off in that direction with hooded eyes. She has wide cheekbones, a thin upper lip, full lower lip, and her mouth is closed over a pointed chin. Her head is covered in a patterned cloth, and she wears a knee-length coat over a long skirt. A knapsack hangs across her torso, and she braces the barrel of a rifle with her right hand, to our left, as she points with the other hand. Two people with short, dark hair stand behind her and to our right. The front person wears pants, square-toed shoes, and a jacket over a shirt. Bracelet-like objects on his wrists could be broken shackles. The other person touches that man’s arm. A fourth person digs in the background to the left. The ground, trees, hills, and sky are dense flicks, slivers, and strokes. The artist signed the sheet in the bottom right corner under the image, “Elizabeth Catlett.”
  • Three pale-skinned, blue-eyed children wearing green suits stand in a row facing us in this horizontal portrait painting. They all have round faces and full, pink cheeks. The tallest child is to the right, and he has shoulder-length cinnamon-brown hair. The other two come up to his shoulder and have blond hair. The tallest puts one arm on the far shoulder of the middle child, and the two smaller children hold hands. Each wears a pine-green, one-piece outfit with pewter-gray buttons, a wide, ivory-white collar lined with ruffles, and black, shin-high boots. The boy on our left holds a branch of dark red cherries. The middle child holds a pink rose, and the tallest a basket filled with pink roses. A black dog holding a gray and mauve-pink bird in its mouth stands in profile facing our left in the lower right corner of the canvas. The room around them has a tan-colored floor and gray walls. The room opens onto an alcove to our right with a rectangular window. A slender tree is along the left edge of the opening and a few pale, pink-tinged gray mountains line the bottom edge. Clear blue sky fills the rest of the window.
  • The sculpture depicts the continents of North America and Africa, where Africa has taken the place of South America. These continents are crafted from a reflective, metallic material, and the polished surface of the sculpture reflects light and the surrounding environment. The sculpture is mounted flat against a white wall.
  • This appears to be a photograph divided into two sections, or two photographs stacked on top of one another. The top portion shows a close-up of a person's face and shoulders. The individual has short, curly black hair, light brown skin, thin eyebrows, and partially open lips, as if they are speaking. They are wearing a dark purple outfit with a deep, round neckline, and the background is a gradient of orange on the left to pink on the right. The lower section presents another close-up view of a different person. This person is wearing large, black cat-eye sunglasses, and they have pale skin and short, blonde hair styled in waves. The person is dressed in a pale-yellow sweater. The background is a solid blue.
  • Several pieces of fruit, a bunch of green grapes, a stem of raisins, and several types of nuts in their shells are piled on a putty-brown tabletop or ledge with rounded corners against a dark background in this horizontal still life painting. The food is brightly lit from the front, and we look slightly down onto the table. There are two round red apples and two pieces of small yellow fruit, perhaps quinces, flanking a golden yellow pear at the back center. The bunch of grapes drapes over the fruit to our right and the raisins lie between the apples. Thirteen walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and perhaps a brazil nut are scattered in a loose band in front of the fruit. The surface on which the still life sits becomes swallowed in shadow behind the fruit, and blends into the dark brown background. The artist signed and dated the work in dark paint in the lower right corner, almost lost in shadow under the ledge: “R.S. Duncanson 1848.”
  • The image shows a complex array of intersecting lines and swirling shapes that create an abstract composition. Thin, curving lines in black and red form a dynamic network. The dense clusters of lines and partially circular forms could suggest the outlines of wings or leaves caught in motion. This artwork weaves together a sense of chaotic energy, with certain line formations resembling natural elements in a whirlwind dance.
  • A city skyline is silhouetted in plum purple against a vivid peach and butter-yellow sky in this horizontal landscape painting. The brilliant sky is reflected in the water below, where a boat is moored along a riverbank. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout. A wedge-shaped piece of olive green could be land or a dock in the lower right corner of the composition. A few people standing near the boat tied to a pier there are loosely painted with strokes of dark green and gray. A shallowly arched bridge marches across the river in the middle distance. Two towers and a few rounded buildings of the skyline beyond are outlined against the twilight sky. The artist’s signature is partially legible in the lower left corner: “F.F. Gut H.O.T.” It was also dated “July 10, 1902” but only the y of “July” is visible.
  • This print is a rectangular piece of paper with several lines of typed text. The background of the card is plain beige, and the black text is aligned to the left.
  • The spruce-green silhouette of a broad-shouldered man standing among palm fronds looks up at a faint red star against a field of green circles radiating out from the horizon in this abstracted vertical painting. The scene is made with mostly flat areas of color to create silhouettes in shades of slate and indigo blue, lemon-lime and pea green, plum purple, and brick red. To our right of center, the man faces our left in profile. His eye is a slit and he has tight curly hair. The position of his feet, standing on a coffin-shaped, brick-red box, indicate his back is to us. He stands with legs apart and his arms by his sides. Terracotta-orange shackles around his wrists are linked with a black chain. A woman to our left, perhaps kneeling, holds her similarly shackled hands up overhead. A line of shackled people with their heads bowed move away from this pair, toward wavy lines indicating water in the distance. The water is pine green near the shore and lightens, in distinct bands, to asparagus green on the horizon. On our left, two, tall pea-green ships sail close to each other at the horizon, both titled at an angle to our right. Concentric circles radiate out from the horizon next to the ships to span the entire painting, subtly altering the color of the silhouettes it encounters. To our left, a buttercup-yellow beam shines from the red star in the sky across the canvas, overlapping the man’s face. Spruce-blue palm trees grow to our right while plum-purple palm fronds and leaves in smoke gray and blood red frame the painting along the left corners and edge. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, in black, “AARON DOUGLAS.”
  • This print shows a person sitting down with their knees drawn up to their chest and their arms folded on their knees, their head resting on their arms. The person has short, curly hair, and they are wearing a jacket, pants, and shoes. Their face is mostly obscured by their arms and hands. Their skin and hair appear to be black, outlined with thin cream-colored lines. The background features a textured pattern resembling a brick wall. Below the print is a signature for "M. Burroughs" and the year 1953, with the words "Sleeping Boy" written on the left. A border of cream-colored paper surrounds the print.
  • This painting displays a large circular shape filled with swirling lines and vibrant color. Shapes within the circle suggest facial features, including eyes, a nose, a row of teeth, and two asymmetrical ears. Most of these shapes are in shades of white and tan, with some spots of red and green. Below the circle is a rectangular shape that looks like a T.V. or alarm clock. Within it, intricate white lines weave together in a complex pattern that is reminiscent of a human body, with the arms outstretched to either side. Parts of these shapes also suggest a face located on the lower part of the torso. The background of the painting is in bright shades of pink and purple, with some highlights of orange and dark blue.
  • This sculpture is an abstract piece featuring thin black strips that loop and twist around one another. They create a tangle of curves and edges extending and curling in various directions. Ribbed textures are visible on some of the black strips. On the right, some of the strips have been cut into feather-like triangles and layered over one another among the swirls and loops. The sculpture is mounted on a white pedestal.
  • This is a painting of a street scene filled with activity. On top of a hill are various structures, trees, and people. The buildings are predominantly green and yellow, arranged in a staggered manner up the incline. There are doors and windows in bright colors, most notably a green door in the center of the painting. The color scheme is vibrant, combining earthy tones with green, blue, and red accents. People of different ages are present, engaging in various activities: some carrying items, petting animals, or playing together. They all appear to have dark brown skin and wear clothing in bright shades of red, yellow, green, and blue. Trees and foliage are visible along the sides of the image and at the top.
  • Painted with small areas of mostly flat color, this horizontal painting shows three brown-skinned people in the room of a home with pale gray walls and wood floors. To our right, a woman wears slate-gray skirt, a white apron and shawl, and a red headscarf with black and white polka dots. She sits in a black wooden chair facing our right in profile, smoking a pipe. A steaming kettle and bright green coffee pot sit on a black wood stove behind and to the right of the woman, with firewood stacked to the right. A clock or timer and an oil lamp sit on a red shelf above the stove and the woman’s head. Beneath her feet is one of three rectangular area rugs with a pattern of green, black, white, and red stripes. A window at the center of the back wall of the room is mostly covered by a dark green curtain. The panes along the bottom are black and lined with white, suggesting snow or frost. A bucket and pewter-colored, shallow bowl sit on a bench on the second striped rug under the window. To our left, a small person standing on the third patterned rug wears short black pants, stockings, and suspenders over a white shirt. That person turns away from us and rests elbows near a lit candle on a table with a red and gray checkered tablecloth. The third person, possibly a young girl, sits on a blanket or a fourth rug patterned with yellow, red, black, and green triangles. That young girl wears a gray dress and black shoes. She cradles a baby doll, and a white dog, perhaps a stuffed animal, sits next to her. A few cracks in the wall near the window expose horizontal bands, perhaps narrow wooden boards under damaged plaster. The artist signed the work with black letters in the lower right corner: “H. PiPPiN.”
  • This black-and-white photograph shows a woman in a seated position, her legs curled to the side, with her back turned to us. She looks over her right shoulder towards us, allowing us to see her face in profile. She has high cheekbones, dark, arched eyebrows, a small nose, and lips set in a neutral position. She has dark skin and long black hair that cascades down her back. She is nude, with some visible tattoos, including the outline of a large cross on her lower back. She holds a bouquet of flowers in her right hand, partially obscuring her legs. The background and the surface she sits on are covered with a variety of textiles with geometric and floral patterns all layered over one another.
  • Printed with blended but dark black shading on cream-white paper, a stylized person sits with chin in one fist in this vertical lithograph. The person sits at a table across from us with one elbow bent to brace the face and the other arm resting on the table in front. The body, features, and clothing are created with angular, blocky forms. The shoulders and head are angled slightly to our right, and the tall, hexagonal face sits in the right hand, to our left. The eyebrows make a shallow U-shape over oversized, hooded eyes. The angular nose has triangle-shaped nostrils, and the wide mouth is set in a line. The first holding the face pulls that eye and cheek down a bit. Dark hair feathers to each side of the person’s face. She wears a striped garment and sits against a dark wall with a single star framed in a dark outline over her left shoulder, to our right. The artist wrote in graphite under the image, “‘MOTHER’ 4/20 PRINTS” to the left and “CHARLES WHITE ‘45” to the right.
  • This is a photograph of a carnival setup at night. The scene captures a section of a fair or carnival at night, focusing on a set piece with an ocean or surfing theme. In the foreground, a figure is silhouetted against the illuminated backdrop, which features a large mural of people dressed in traditional island clothing. Bright lights frame the top of the scene, highlighting the curved shape of the set design. The low lighting and sepia tones give the photograph a vintage or nostalgic feel.
  • Seven roses in full bloom are clustered in a wide bouquet set against a dark brown background in this horizontal still life painting. The blossom to our left is peach, and a bud dips down in front of that flower. Behind it and to our right is a lavender pink rose, and then wine red, blush pink, and white. Two butter-yellow roses are along the top of the bouquet, and one of those faces away from us to the right. Spring-green leaves are interspersed throughout, and a single maroon-red petal sits lies on the table in the lower left corner of the composition. The scene is painted with visible brushstrokes, especially evident in the dark background. The artist signed and dated the painting with red paint in the top right corner, “Fantin. 82.”
  • The image shows two sketched individuals conversing. One person is standing in profile wearing a coat, helmet, and holding a rifle. The other person is facing them with hands in pockets, wearing a uniform and cap. Boxes are scattered nearby. Background features faint drawings of buildings or structures in the distance.
  • The image depicts two individuals shown from head to toe. On the left, a person standing upright with their body facing forward but the head turned to the right, and hands behind their back. This person is wearing a helmet, long coat, and boots. On the right, another person standing with a slightly hunched posture, looking intently towards the person on the left. This person has more pronounced facial features with an open mouth and squinted eyes, wearing a spiked headdress, long robe, and bare feet. The surroundings are minimal with indistinct shapes resembling stones or rubble at the ankles of the second person, and an undefined form to the right of them. The background is a blank, textured surface, and the entire scene is sketched with loose, expressive lines.
  • This print depicts the black silhouettes of three thick strands of barbed wire on a bright red background. The words " CESEN DEPORTACIÓN!" are in yellow text at the top of the image.
  • This is a poster of a stylized face above text. The image contains a yellow background with a large black rectangle in the center. Within the black area is a stylized depiction of a face in yellow, expressing an open mouth. Below the face is bold, capitalized text also in yellow that reads "¡FUERA DE INDOCHINA!"
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  • This is a drawing depicting a crowded and dramatic scene with various figures interacting around a central figure. The composition shows a chaotic atmosphere with animated gestures and interactions. The central figure is standing barefooted and slightly leaning to one side, with exaggerated expressions on other figures suggesting satire or critique. In the background, there are architectural elements and statues. The drawing has a satirical tone reminiscent of 19th-century visual satire.
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  • This print shows a person lying on the ground, looking upward, an arm raised by their head and their knees slightly bent. Their head is in the upper left corner of the print, while their feet are in the bottom right. The person appears to have dark skin and short hair, and they are wearing a jacket, a shirt, pants, and shoes. A rope has been tied around their neck, creating a noose. At the top of the print, surrounding the person on the ground, there are multiple pairs of shoes turned towards the person. Two of them stand on the end of the noose. The ground is created with short, white lines that curve upward against a black background. The print is in the center of a large, off-white piece of paper.
  • The image shows three panels of a translucent curtain with undulating patterns of light. The first panel includes a hand on the left side, while the other two panels focus on the abstract play of light on the curtain.
  • The image shows soft, wavy lines and shapes forming an abstract pattern. The interplay of light and shadow across the surface suggests a texture similar to woven material. The design can be interpreted in various ways, resembling flowing fabric, gentle waves, rippling water, or rolling hills.
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