Lot #117 - Charles Alston, 1907-1977 (Africa/USA)
Charles Alston, 1907-1977 (Africa/USA)
Estimate: 8 000 - 12 000 £
Auction ended
Lot Description
Charles Henry Alston (1907-1977)
Family, 1953
Oil on canvas, size 91 x 61 cm (36 x 24 inches)
Signed and dated lower right
Charles Alston (1907-1977) was a prominent African-American artist. Charles Alston earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia, University, and in 1930, received the Arthur Wesley Dow Fellowship. From 1950, he began several decades of teaching at the Art Students League and was also a member of the National Society of Mural Painters. In 1958, he was a U.S. representative to the Brussels Worlds Fair and in 1967 was appointed to the Advisory Board of the National Council of the Arts. He exhibited at the John Heller Gallery in New York and in 1969 had a large retrospective exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in New York. However, he declined an invitation to participate in a 1971 exhibition of Black Artists at the Whitney Museum of Art writing to the Curator: "The idea of separating artists on the basis of color is a repulsive affirmation of the racism and bigotry which permeate American society . . . I would hate to think that I was in an exhibition because I's Black, rather than because I am a good painter." (Herskovic 26). Sources: American Art Review, ARTnews, Marika Herskovic, Editor, American Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s, An Illustrated Survey).
Family, 1953
Oil on canvas, size 91 x 61 cm (36 x 24 inches)
Signed and dated lower right
Charles Alston (1907-1977) was a prominent African-American artist. Charles Alston earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia, University, and in 1930, received the Arthur Wesley Dow Fellowship. From 1950, he began several decades of teaching at the Art Students League and was also a member of the National Society of Mural Painters. In 1958, he was a U.S. representative to the Brussels Worlds Fair and in 1967 was appointed to the Advisory Board of the National Council of the Arts. He exhibited at the John Heller Gallery in New York and in 1969 had a large retrospective exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in New York. However, he declined an invitation to participate in a 1971 exhibition of Black Artists at the Whitney Museum of Art writing to the Curator: "The idea of separating artists on the basis of color is a repulsive affirmation of the racism and bigotry which permeate American society . . . I would hate to think that I was in an exhibition because I's Black, rather than because I am a good painter." (Herskovic 26). Sources: American Art Review, ARTnews, Marika Herskovic, Editor, American Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s, An Illustrated Survey).
Conditions
Good condition. Examination under UV light reveals no evidence of retouching.
Auction Description
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