Author Description

This book focuses on the work of African American artists during the Depression and the war years (1929-1945), when government-sponsored programs such as the WPA led to a general resurgence in artistic production throughout the United States. The catalogue features the work of Robert Blackburn, Raymond Steth, Horace Woodroff, and Dox Trash, among others, with a smaller selection of paintings and watercolors by such notable artists as Horace Pippin, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Bill Traylor. Included are essays on the work in its cultural context and on printmaking techniques. Most of the works in this volume are recent acquisitions of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and have not been previously published.