one to focus specifically on fine printmaking, a
Philadelphians to follow in the footsteps of these
distinction that accentuated the illustrious tradition
early leaders with their participation in the WPA
of graphic art that Philadelphia has maintained
program of the 1930s were Raymond Steth, Claude
since the colonial period. Notable black contributors
C. F. Clark, Samuel J. Brown, and Dox Thrash, to
to this tradition include silhouette artist Moses
whom the discovery of the popular carborundum
Williams, “cutter of profiles,” in the early nineteenth
mezzotint technique is attributed.4
century, and painter and fine printmaker Henry Ossawa Tanner in the late nineteenth century. Tanner, a student of Philadelphia’s great realist painter Thomas Eakins, was a broadly inspirational figure to many of the artists in the exhibition. His Study for Christ demonstrates an unflinchingly physical approach to representing the more usually idealized body of Christ. Among those black
Though the WPA was not solely intended to support African American artists, it welcomed black participants in a cultural environment where such welcome was not always generously extended. In the course of our conversations, we often asked about the circumstances that made this openness possible. It was suggested that radically
Manda, date unknown, by Dox Thrash (Historical Society of Pennsylvania: WPA Art Program) Marian Anderson, c. 1954, by Howard Watson (Collection of Lewis Tanner Moore) Photograph by Joe Painter
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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM
Study for Christ, 1900, by Henry Ossawa Tanner (Art & Artifacts Division,Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations) Photograph courtesy of the New York Public Library
WE SPEAK: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s
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