Edited by Jeffrey C. Stewart

Influential Black artists from Washington, DC—including David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones, and Alma Thomas—shaped a vibrant artistic culture in the nation’s capital. This book examines their legacy, as well as the key District institutions and communities of educators, critics, and collectors that contributed to the Washington Black Renaissance.

In a 20th century during which modern art largely abandoned beauty as its imperative, a group of Black artists from Washington, DC, made beauty the center of their art making. This book highlights these influential artists, including David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones, and Alma Thomas, in the context of what Jeffrey C. Stewart describes as the Washington Black Renaissance. Vibrant histories of key District institutions and the city’s communities of educators, critics, and collectors animate a nuanced consideration of the evolution of an aesthetic dialectic from the 1920s up to the present day. The fifteen essays in the volume are grounded by voices from a live artist panel at the National Gallery of Art in 2017, which included Lilian Thomas Burwell, Floyd Coleman, David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Keith Morrison, Martin Puryear, Sylvia Snowden, and Lou Stovall.

Published by the National Gallery of Art, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts