African-American Art at the Amon Carter Museum

by Jerome Weeks 30 Jun 2009 7:10 AM

One of the most significant collections of African-American art in the world was assembled not by a wealthy patron but by a middle-class couple from San Antonio. In the 1980s, Harmon and Harriet Kelley began buying the occasional painting of a Texas landscape. But in 1986, the San Antonio Museum of Art brought in the touring exhibition, “Hidden Heritage: Afro-American-Art from 1800-1950.”

Ron Adams, Blackburn, lithograph, 2002

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One of the most significant collections of African-American art in the world was assembled not by a wealthy patron but by a middle-class couple from San Antonio. In the 1980s, Harmon and Harriet Kelley began buying the occasional painting of a Texas landscape. But in 1986, the San Antonio Museum of Art brought in the touring exhibition, “Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art from 1800-1950.”

The Kelleys attended the show – and it changed their lives.

HARMON KELLEY: We went there with essentially no understanding, no realizing what we were going to see. And we saw things we’d never seen before.

“Hidden Heritage” was a landmark exhibition created by art historian David Driskell. It showcased dozens of notable artists who were not that widely known. Artists such as Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and Elizabeth Catlett.

The Kelleys were inspired to learn more – and to buy their first work by a black artist. It was a 1910 pastel by Henry Tanner.

HARMON KELLEY: We were basically finding things that had been kind of neglected in textbooks, museums, media and everything.

William Henry Johnson, Jitterbugs III, modified screenprint, 1941-42

Actually, even in the 1980s, the art world knew about a painter like Jacob Lawrence. But Harmon Kelley points out there still wasn’t a big demand for Lawrence’s work. Museums would buy a single painting by him, and that was all.

It was artistic tokenism. But it worked to the Kelleys’ advantage. Works by major African-American artists remained affordable. Harmon Kelley is a gynecologist, Harriet is a biologist. Yet in the past two decades, the couple has acquired more than three hundred pieces by black artists. The selection of 92 artworks at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth features etchings, lithographs, watercolors and drawings.

While educating themselves about black art, the Kelleys pursued their own preferences for landscapes and portraits. But as African-Americans, what the couple also looked for were positive images of working blacks, of middle-class blacks.

HARMON KELLEY: In lots of cases, there were black people that worked that helped to make America great that often times weren’t depicted. So the black artist depicts who helped move America, helped make it great. And those are scenes that Harriet and I absolutely enjoy.

John Thomas Biggers, Morning is here, no dawn, lithograph, 1965

As a result, the exhibition at the Amon Carter has two clusters. One is from the ‘60s and ‘70s when the civil rights movement inspired black artists. The other is from the ‘30s and ‘40s, when the New Deal’s Federal Art Project gave some African-Americans their first real paying jobs as artists.

Ron Adams is a master printmaker in New Mexico. His portrait of Robert Blackburn (above) is the exhibition’s signature image. Blackburn was a New Deal artist, and Adams has been around long enough to have worked with some of the New Deal pioneers.

RON ADAMS: I got a lot of admiration for the artists because during that particular time, for a black person to be in art, there was no money in art, there’s no money in it now, hardly. You know, they did it because that’s what they loved doing.

Blackburn founded the Printmaking Workshop in New York. He won a MacArthur genius grant and became a major teacher and collaborator with other black artists – artists like Ron Adams, Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.

That portrait of Blackburn at his printing press is a quintessential image from the Kelley collection. It depicts a working African-American, a working black artist. And it does what the Kelley collection also does: It honors a tradition, a lineage, in African-American art.

In doing so, the Kelleys helped bring these artists to public attention. Now museums avidly bid for their works. Ironically, that’s made the Kelleys’ collecting harder. When they started in the ‘80s, paintings or prints by Jacob Lawrence would sell for a few thousand dollars.

Jacob Lawrence, The Builders, tempera on board, 1947

Two years ago, then First Lady Laura Bush unveiled a modern masterpiece acquired through a private trust fund as part of a renovation of the White House’s Green Room. The 1947 painting by Jacob Lawrence — called “The Builders” — was purchased at auction at Christie’s.

Its price? $2.5 million dollars.

The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art: Works on Paper is on view at the Amon Carter through Aug. 23.

Tom Hendricks

I enjoyed this story and the art pictured. I wonder what local notable African-American Artists are in their collection.
Harriet Kelley

Notable African-American local(Texas) artists include:

Ike Morgan(Austin)
Lionel Lofton(Houston)
Bert Long(Houston)
Charles Criner(Houston)
John Biggers(deceased)-Houston
- paul-harvey du bois
  
  Jacob Lawrence’s work: might we call it a very populist form of constructionism? The tempera colours are well done.
Dave Cannon

Outstanding article and brought back memories of a large mural I saw back in the early 1960s along the back wall of the dining facility on the Morgan State College campus in Baltimore MD. Would like to find out who painted this mural. As I recall it depicted scenes from the African American historical experience.
Le Juene

My girlfriend in San Antonio emailed this to me. I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and will plan to attend this event. In fact, I am going to put this on the agenda for our Arts Leadership Council at American Airlines as an event to attend. I have a small collection but have always wanted a Biggers after seeing his exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art, but someone talked me out of it. Cannot wait to see your pieces. I thought this story (after reading the headlines) was going to be about the Pierces (my friend, Wynette, introduced me to them many years ago). Thanks for saving this artwork.
Andree Carroll

My husband and I were visiting from San Diego and happened to see a
write-up about the Museum in the paper. It was so wonderful to see the
pieces that the Kelly’s had acquired. To actually see the works of Jacob,
Catlett, Biggers and other African -Americans was a thrill. We loved the exhibit so very much. We are so thankful to the Kelly’s for sharing their art and the museum for putting such a great exhibit together. It’s a great Museum.