African American Art: The Long Struggle

Rating:
Summary: Anthology of Black Art
Review: Crystal A. Britton has done a wonderful job tracing the history of Black Art from slavery to present day. This is more than a book of black art, it is a history book. Through the choice of visual examples used accompanied by the background of the era and artist of the time, the reader gets a sense of the time in which the artist was living and thus the influences upon their art at that time. This is truly a visual celebration of African American Art from its beginnings during slavery to present day with all stops in between. Folk art, contemporary art, paintings, prints and sculpture are all represented in this book giving a well-rounded representation of the Black artist. I liked this book because it provides a one stop source for the background and style of many of the famous Black artists of "my" time such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett and James Van Der Zee.