Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts · Sunday, September 21, 1969

2

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

One of artist Calvin Burnett’s earliest memories is that of him studiously copying characters from the comic pages - so much so that his parents created a dedicated space for him, complete with his own holder for his Higgins brand ink.

Burnett also remembered his visits to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in the city which piqued his interest as a place of adventure and exploration.

The collection of this patron of the arts was housed in a remarkable Venetian style palace. (Many will recall that this was the place where, in 1990, thieves absconded with 13 works of art that included works by Degas, Rembrandt, and Vermeer).

Burnett’s father was a doctor by trade, although this did not carry the prestige that it does today. Practicing during the Depression meant that he bartered his services for other items that patients had readily available. Burnett had no great love of school, but he was able to take instruction elsewhere as a junior in high school. As a senior, he received a scholarship to an adult education class.

Both of these experiences were far superior to the meager options offered at his high school.

Burnett chose to attend the Massachusetts College of Art and

Design where five programs were offered: Teacher Training, General Design, Drawing & Painting, and Modeling & Sculpture. He chose the fine art (drawing and painting) track with an eye toward a career in illustration.

Burnett attended Mass Art with a small, cohesive group of like-minded peers.

They were self-described “Bohemians” and “modernists” who were going to revolutionize art. There really weren’t any other students of color attending Mass Art and Burnett described his professors as mainly white, AngloSaxon, protestant types who primarily ascribed to the Edmund Tarbell style of art. Tarbell was of particular interest and influence for Boston artists at that time. These acolytes adhered to “high standards of execution in painting and drawing and a preference for genteel subject matter.” They were horrified at the prospect of anything remotely contemporary.

Despite this, he did learn valuable techniques to apply to his work in the future and he did have a few instructors that he genuinely liked.

Burnett appreciated Leo O’Donnell’s style and openness to new ideas and experiences informing the art.

O’Donnell taught general illustration and life drawing and was someone for whom Burnett could see himself emulating, as an educator. Otis A.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

3

Philbrick was another instructor he liked, although more for his personality.

From him, Burnett learned print-making - in this class Burnett said he was striving for German expressionism, but hadn’t quite been able to get the point across to Philbrick.

Burnett preferred to experiment and pushed the boundaries of the strict, technical side of his instruction outside of class. The school’s main objective was to produce art teachers. Burnett subscribed to the idea of being an artist first. He was adamantly against the idea of becoming a teacher, but ironically, he was to become a very adept instructor of perspective at Mass Art, himself.

Most likely, Burnett took all of the good traits and distilled out the bad ones to become the kind of teacher he would have liked to have as a student.

Burnett graduated in 1942, as the second world war was raging on.

He began working in the Navy Yard, unable to serve in the military due to poor eyesight. He was adamant at this time that he did not want to become a draftsman. Instead, he worked as a laborer, literally cleaning bilge tanks.

According to Burnett, he preferred that life. His art, was a separate entity.

“It was a very interesting sociological situation, which I enjoyed,” he remarked.

4

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

On the job, Burnett would memorize every detail of the little scenes he observed throughout the day and draw them when he returned home. He also observed servicemen at the USO on Dudley Street, and at the hospitals. He was a war correspondent, in his own way. His sketchbook continued to inspire his work for many years. In an interview with the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Burnett said this about his sketchbook, “…it’s not just the picture. It’s what happened and what I was doing and thinking at the time I made it. It’s a great mnemonic, you know. It helps you to remember all sorts of things. It’s like music or certain smells, you know.

The subject matter of the picture is very suggestive so I can recall, you know, old girlfriends, events, tragedies, fun.

They’re like diaries, I guess.”

When the war ended, he stopped working at the Navy Yard, and started pounding the pavement looking for freelance work sign painting, silkscreening, and illustration for pointof-sale advertising. He worked for D.C.Heath & Co., a company which specialized in textbooks, as an illustrator. He also spent a lot of his spare time walking the neighborhood, making connections with all sorts of

people who knew people who knew people…which is how he found himself at the Boris Mirski Gallery.

Boris Mirski Gallery, located on 166 Newbury Street in Boston from 19441979, near the home of the Guild of Boston Artists and the Boston Museum of Fine Art, was known for exhibiting works of Boston Expressionism as well as supporting young, emerging artists - especially those of marginalized peoples. Boris Mirski was the son of a Lithuanian lumber merchant and described as a “disarming and lovable rogue.” The Boris Mirski School of Modern Art occupied the third floor of the building. Notable African-American artist, John W. Wilson (1922-2015) was among the teachers. Artists shown included Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, Ellsworth Kelly, John Moran, and Georgia O’Keefe. Burnett became one of the roster of artists shown there and he was able to meet fellow artists and dealers. He also received write-ups in the Beacon Hill News and the Boston Chronicle (a Black newspaper).

Lawrence Kupferman, whom he had known from Mass Art, (he chaired the painting department) was intrigued by his drawings of Navy Yard and was instrumental in getting Burnett a showing at the Institute of Modern Art

(now the Institute of Contemporary Art.) His work was reproduced in an article titled simply, “New England,” in Art News (1946).

Burnett continued this upward career trajectory by exhibiting at the Addison Gallery of Art in 1947 in a show of recent art school graduates, where he exhibited street scenes and genre paintings in watercolor. He also began receiving national attention while exhibiting his work at the Atlanta University Annual Exhibitions of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints of Negro Artists in 1944. He was a regular fixture in these exhibitions and was awarded many prizes over the years.

Throughout all of this, Burnett’s eyesight continued to worsen. And so, he found himself returning to his alma mater this time in the education track. After finishing his studies at Mass Art and a stint teaching in the public school system, he was offered a position with the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury. The school was established in 1950, and served the Black community in a similar way to the Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1968, the school morphed into the National Center of Afro-American Artists. This institution, in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, developed the

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

5

NCAAA’s museum under the direction of Edmund Barry Gaither and produced many significant exhibitions of AfricanAmerican art, a tradition that continues today. Burnett taught at the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, and Concord Academy. He also spent a summer teaching silkscreening at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. His teaching here merged the commercial silkscreen experience he had received on the job with the fine art techniques he had learned at Mass Art and afforded greater precision both in creating finer, smaller portions of an overall composition and large scale works composed of several pieces.

The 1960’s was an era of public impact and civic engagement for Burnett. He went back to Mass Art initially to teach a class in perspective, and remained there until his retirement in 1986. As an educator, Burnett’s influence extended far beyond the classroom.

He lectured at regional museums and designed instructional materials, and his Smithsonian Archives of American Art oral history (1980) preserves his reflections on pedagogy and practice, emphasizing disciplined craft, fearless experimentation, and the artist’s social responsibilities. Former students remember a teacher who opened doors: hosting visiting illustrators,

6

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

modeling professional versatility, and insisting that every line, color, and compositional decision carry intention.* He also authored the book, Objective Drawing Techniques (published in 1966).

Burnett co-founded Boston AfroAmerican Artists, Inc. (originally the Boston Negro Artists Association) in 1963 with J. Marcus Mitchell to cultivate opportunities for Black artists and audiences; the group was incorporated in 1966 and became a platform for exhibitions and advocacy. Burnett also figured among the original roster of artists associated with Northeastern University’s African-American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP), a major outgrowth of the city’s Black Arts Movement that provided long-term studio support. He worked with Impressions Workshop (Boston) both to produce large runs of his own woodblock prints, and to learn additional techniques.

Throughout the 1960s–80s, Burnett exhibited widely in museum and gallery contexts, his résumé includes national venues such as the Smithsonian and the Brooklyn Museum, and he remained fluid stylistically, moving among drawing, printmaking, painting, collage, and mixed media.

Calvin Burnett teaching silkscreen at Haystack Mountain, c. 1954; Robert M. Pettit, photographer.

Burnett continued to teach, mentor, and create into the 1990s, even as Alzheimer’s disease emerged in his final years. He died in Medway, Massachusetts, on October 8, 2007, at age 86. Posthumously, institutions and scholars have reaffirmed his significance to mid-century African American printmaking and to Boston’s cultural infrastructure. Recent curatorial writing has highlighted lesser-known

works from the 1940s alongside his civil-rights-era imagery, underscoring the continuity of his humanist themes across decades. % Source: Oral history interview with Calvin Burnett, 1980 June 13-1981 January 6.

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

7

8

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Plates

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

9

Fire Department, 1938 watercolor 11 x 18 inches signed and dated

10 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

11

Portrait of a Woman, 1940 pastel on paper 20 x 15 inches signed and dated 1/3/1940

12

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Portrait of a Man, 1940

watercolor on paper 19 x 11 inches signed and dated Feb 14, 1940

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

13

Made Up Woman, n.d. woodblock print 5 x 3 inches signed, titled, and annotated PP IV

14

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

E.M. (Head), 1964 wood engraving 3-3/8 x 2-1/8 inches signed, titled, dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

15

Howardina, 1942

etching and aquatint 7 x 4-3/4 inches signed, titled, dated 11/42 and numbered AP 14/15

16

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Edna, 1942

linocut 6 x 3-1/2 inches signed, titled, dated, AP

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

17

Real Juggler, 1946 watercolor and pencil 25-1/2 x 19-1/2 inches signed and dated

18

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

19

Acolyte, 1964

color linocut 4-1/4 x 2-1/2 inches signed, titled, dated, AP 2

20 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Untitled (Acolyte), 1964 color linocut 4-1/4 x 2-1/2 inches signed, titled, dated, AP

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

21

6 Week-Old Baby, 1963 pencil drawing 5-1/2 x 7-1/2 inches signed, titled, dated

22

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Untitled (Abstract), 1952 charcoal and ink on paper 13-1/2 x 23-1/4 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

23

Standing Woman, 1958 ink and gouache 25-1/2 x 7-1/4 inches signed and dated

24 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

25

26

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Whites Out, 1986-88

mixed media (watercolor, pencil, collage) 60 x 40 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

27

Eight Stacked Boxes, 1996

gesso, black and white paint and ink on board 20 x 27 inches (image) signed, titled, dated

28

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

War Worker’s Studio Party (WWII), 1997 ink on paper 20 x 27 inches (image) 24 x 34 inches (sheet) signed, titled, dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

29

Heart to Heart Talk, 1996 mixed media on gold paper 24 x 18 inches signed titled, and dated

30

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

31

Untitled (Treescape), n.d. oil on masonite 26 x 22-3/4 inches signed

32

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

33

Selected Exhibitions 1943

Institute of Modern Art, Boston, MA

1944

Institute of Modern Art, Boston, MA

1946 Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston (solo) 1947

Sixth Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints

by Negro Artists, Atlanta University, GA; Purchase Award Barnett-Aden Gallery, Washington D.C. Addison Gallery of Art, Andover, MA

1948

Seventh Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints by Negro Artists, Atlanta University, GA

1951

Tenth Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints

by Negro Artists, Atlanta University, GA Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston

1952

Eleventh Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints by Negro Artists , Atlanta University, GA

1953 Twelvth Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints by Negro Artists , Atlanta University, GA 1956 Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints by Negro Artists , Atlanta University, GA; awarded 2nd prize for Girl Waiting (silkscreen) 1960 Calvin Burnett and Walter Feldman (joint show), Pace Gallery, Boston, MA 1962

First Annual Exhibit of Paintings, Sculptures, and Prints by

34 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Members of the National Conference of Artists, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO 1966 The Negro in American Art: One Hundered and Fifty Years of Afro-American Art, Dickson Art Galleries, UCLA Art Galleries, CA 1969 Afro-American Artists: 1800-1969, School District and Museum of the Philadelphia Art Center, Philadelphia, PA 1970

11 Black Printmakers, Fine Arts Building, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA

1970

Afro-American Artists: New York and Boston, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, MA 14 Black Artists from Boston, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY

1971

Rebuttal to Whitney Museum Exhibition: Black Artists in Rebuttal at Acts of Art Gallery, Acts of Art Inc., NY National Exhibition of Black Artists, Smith-Mason Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Black Artists in New England I & II, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, MA

1972

Works of Calvin Burnett, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA (solo)

1975

Jubiliee: Afro-American Artists on Afro-America; Boston Museum of Fine Arts, MA

1976

Two Centuries of Black American Art, Los Angeles Museum of Art, CA

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

35

Selected Exhibitions 1977

Works of Calvin Burnett, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA (solo) Works of Calvin Burnett, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA (solo)

1980 Impressions/Expressions: Black American Graphics, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY 1988

Massachusetts Masters: Afro-American Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

1992

Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930’s-40’s by AfricanAmerican Artists, Newark Museum, NJ

1995 Calvin Burnett: A Retrospective - Along the Skin Color Line, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Roxbury, MA 1997

Calvin Burnett: Boxes, Containers, and Abstractions, AAMRP, Boston, MA

2002 Successions: Prints by African-American Artists from the Jean and Robert Steele Collection, University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, MD 2003 African-American Artists, 1929-1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY From Challenge to Triumph: African-American Prints & Printmaking, 1867-2002, Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art, Brooklyn, NY

36

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

2004 Images of America, African-American Voices: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Walker, Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, NC 2005 The Chemistry of Color: African-American Artists in Philadelphia, 1970-1990, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA 2007 The Harriet and Harmon Kelley Collection of AfricanAmerican Art: Works on Paper, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX (traveling) 2008 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007), Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, MA (solo) 2009 In Search of Missing Masters: The Lewis Tanner Moore Collection of African American Art, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA 2021

Art & Protest: Artists as Agents of Social Change, Middlebury College Museum of Art, VT

2023 Voting Along Colored Lines: The Voices of the South, Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, AR 2024 Perspective on the Past: Selections from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African-American Art, Barbara Crawford Gallery, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Philadelphia, PA Celebration, The Fralin Museum of Art, Charlottesville, VA

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

37

Woman Sitting With Legs Drawn, n.d. lithograph 18 x 13 inches signed

38

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Head of a Woman, n.d. woodblock print 14-3/4 x 10 inches

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

39

Art Show, 1946 ink drawing 11 x 7-1/4 inches signed and dated

40

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Portrait of a Woman, n.d. serigraph 21 x 12 inches signed

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

41

Angel, 1952

ink drawing 18 x 12 inches signed and dated

42

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Girl in Repose, n.d.

lithograph 16 x 27 inches signed

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

43

Seated Nude Woman, 1952

ink drawing 18 x 24 inches signed and dated

44

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Couple in a Field, 1948 ink drawing 21-1/2 x 28 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

45

Woman With Groceries, n.d. lithograph 15-1/2 x 12-1/2 inches signed

46 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Two Figures Dancing in a Field, 1948 ink drawing 23 x 16 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

47

Woman in Dress With a Balloon, 1948 ink drawing 27 x 20 inches signed and dated

48 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Two Nudes, 1951 ink drawing 24 x 18 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

49

Houses Along a Street, n.d.

color block print on black paper 14 x 12-1/2 inches

50

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

51

52

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Study for Self-Portrait as a Teenage Girl, 1961

graphite and pencil on wove paper 23-5/8 x 14-3/8 inches signed and inscribed

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

53

Two Dancers, n.d.

lithograph on brown card stock 17 x 12-1/2 inches signed

54

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Standing Nude, 1949 ink drawing 24 x 10 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

55

Six Pregnant North End Women, 1946 ink drawing 22-1/2 x 14-1/2 inches signed, titled, and dated

56

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

57

Pleasure Seekers (Summer), 1945

ink drawing on illustration board 18-1/2 x 24-1/2 inches signed and dated

58

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

59

60

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Harlequins, 1951

ink drawing 18 x 24 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

61

Portrait of a Man, 1951

ink drawing 24 x 18 inches signed and dated

62

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Baby Doll Parts, 1954

serigraph 25 x 18 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

63

Woman Reading, 1953 ink drawing 20 x 16 inches signed and dated

64 Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

The Redhead, 1946

ink drawing on white card stock 15 x 10 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

65

Seated Male Figure with Legs Drawn, 1953 ink drawing 23 x 17 inches signed and dated

66

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Dancers, 1952

ink drawing 23-1/2 x 18 inches signed and dated

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

67

Religious Figure, n.d.

lithograph 19 x 13 inches signed

68

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

Calvin Burnett (1921-2007) I am a camera.

69

©2025 Black Art Auction