has been collected by many institutions. Brown
printmakers in Philadelphia, which includes artists
of the Works Progress Administration. However, his
important to the history of Philadelphia artists and
contributed a lot to Philadelphia’s artist community
we have talked about, like Brown and Thrash?
narrative style ran counter to the post–World War
the rise of printmaking in the city.
during the period explored in this exhibition as a creator, educator, mentor, and institutional supporter, and he served from his retirement from teaching until his death as a member of the board of directors of the Brandywine Workshop.
EDMUNDS: I don’t consider myself engaged in
a discipline-specific legacy. What we have done collectively at Brandywine is about more than just printmaking, and I leave it to others to evaluate and articulate whether or not we deserve to be
VALERIO: Thrash showed his work often at the
credited with building a legacy. When I was in my
Pyramid Club in Philadelphia in the 1940s.
sophomore year of college, I was frustrated that
EDMUNDS: There was really no other place you
could go on a regular basis to see the work of African American artists at that time. You might go to a recital at a church or somebody’s house— Marian Anderson’s home was like a salon. But it was amazing to have the Pyramid Club, where you could see art exhibitions and attend lectures and other cultural programs. As a curator of exhibitions and a leading artist, Thrash was a strong presence. All the women loved him, and he commanded a loyal audience for the center.
African American artists were not included in the art history that was being taught. I wrote to prominent black artists across the country like Benny Andrews and Eugene Grigsby, Jr. to ask if they would send me slides and information about their work. I felt I needed to put together some material to know what my history was, because I wasn’t getting it
II trend toward abstraction, and to the art that was coming out of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Ray stopped working, as many artists
VALERIO: Over and over, we hear about the
importance of the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial.
of his generation did, for a lack of opportunities. I
EDMUNDS: It is so important! When I was young
thought he was very bitter about that and about
the school district sponsored the Saturday School
feeling generally under-recognized by the current
Art League at Fleisher. I took two buses and a train
generation. Yet he co-founded the Philographic
from West Philadelphia just to get there every
School of Art and Print Workshop, the first of its kind
Saturday morning; lots of people crossed the city to
in Philadelphia, which ran for a few years in the early 1950s. He also served as an assistant teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), and from 1942 to 1943 he was a guest curator at the Print Club (now the Print Center). He’s very
from the books assigned in classes. In the version of Janson’s History of Art that was current at the time, and in other survey books, Jacob Lawrence was the only African American artist mentioned. So I was being told that in the history of American art,
VALERIO: Was this social connectedness central to
there was only one. I don’t even think Henry Ossawa
the founding of the Brandywine Workshop?
Tanner was included. The sense that we must connect to history and to the wider world—not just
EDMUNDS: Yes. It was important for me that
Philadelphia—became important to me. When I first
people were willing to put their egos and careers
read something about Sam Brown, I sought him out.
behind the goal of helping others. I saw any
I was at an opening somewhere and an artist walked
progress and accomplishments as not mine alone.
in. I didn’t know what he looked like, but I thought
It was about working alongside other artists and
to myself, “You know, something just tells me that’s
educators such as John E. Dowell, Jr., Paul Keene,
Sam Brown.” I walked up to him and asked, and he
John L. Wade, Sr., Joseph C. Bailey, James Pounds,
said, “Yes, I am.” And that’s how we met. He started
Bill Peronneau, Clarence Wood, Leon Hicks, and
talking about Thrash and how I should look at his
dozens more supporters to build something based
work. I also met another important Philadelphia
on quality and service to others. We came together
printmaker, Raymond Steth, around that same time.
to do something for the arts and for the community. VALERIO: What was Steth’s personality like? SUSANNA W. GOLD: Do you see yourself
as engaged in the legacy or history of black
EDMUNDS: Bitter. Ray was a terrific printmaker,
having learned his craft in the Graphic Arts Division 118
WOODMERE ART MUSEUM
Patton St. Derelict, date unknown, by Raymond Steth (Fine Arts Collection, U.S. General Services Administration, New Deal Art Project: On deposit with Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia) Photograph courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia
Abstract, c. 1942, by Samuel J. Brown (Fine Arts Collection, U.S. General Services Administration, New Deal Art Project: On deposit with Print and Picture Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia) Photograph courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia WE SPEAK: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s
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