Dr. Sharon F. Patton, former director at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (Washington, DC), set out to accomplish two primary goals in the Oxford History of Art: African American Art:
- Discuss folk and decorative arts such as ceramics, furniture, and quilts alongside fine art, sculptures, paintings, and photography during the 1800s.
- Examine the New Negro Movement of the 1920s, the era of Civil Rights and Black Nationalism during the 1960s and 70s, and the emergence of new black artists and theorists in the 1980s and 90s.
Dr. Patton rightfully discussed Delilah W. Pierce’s friend and peer, Alma Thomas (1891-1978) during her exploration and analysis of The Evolution of A Black Aesthetic. In this section Dr. Patton used the words of Delilah W. Pierce in order to help provide context about Alma Thomas’ work:
Delilah W. Pierce (1904 – 1992), recalled that she and Alma often took long drives in the country, and Thomas would show a keen interest in the different effects of light and atmosphere. Nature is here reduced to staccato strokes of one to four colours. The spacing and repetition of colours create a visual rhythm: the formalized progressions of symphonies rather than the syncopation of jazz sensed in her slightly later paintings.
Click the following link to learn more about the Oxford History of Art: African American Art.