Charles Alston

Smyth-sewn casebound with jacket, 8 1/2 x 11 in., 128 pag. More than 70 color and black-and-white reproductions and photographs. Author: Alvia J. Wardlaw Text: English

Charles Alston (1907-1977), a contemporary of and cousin by marriage to Romare Bearden, was an artist of singular talent and broad vision, as well as a dedicated and influential teacher; Jacob Lawrence was one of his students. Author Alvia J. Wardlaw writes that 'Alston was in many ways a bridge for a younger generation, a pioneer who ventured fearlessly into the foreign territory of mainstream art, all the while gathering information for those who followed him. His generosity was evident, and his career-long desire to teach reflected his determination to change the art world from the inside.' Portraitist, muralist, figurative and abstract painter, Alston was fiercely committed to challenging his own artistic directions. In 1934, he established the WPA Harlem Art Workshop, with Henry Bannarn; in 1935, he became the first black supervisor in the WPA Federal Art Projects. Ge was the first African American instructor at the Art Students League (1950), and at the Museum of Modern Art (1956-1957). And, with Hale Woodruff and others, he was a founding member of Spiral . the renowned black artists' alliance (1963). As early as 1934, his works appeared at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, among other venues. In the 1950s, his paintings were exhibited frequently at a number of prestigious New York galleries, often resulting in purchases from major museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.