New York School - African-American Abstract Expressionists of The 1950s

African-American Abstract Expressionists of The 1950s

For African American artists a barrier to success in the post-War era was the prevailing blight of racism and segregation. This resulted in exclusion of artists of African-American origin from major exhibitions and critical attentions. The best evidence of this is the absence of African-American artists in the New York School Annuals between 1951 and 1957. These annual exhibitions represented a total of 265 New York School artists, none of whom were African-American.

Those artists would include the following:

  • Charles Alston (1907–1977)
  • Romare Bearden (1911–1988)
  • Edward Clark (born 1926)
  • Beauford Delaney (1901–1979)
  • Harlan Jackson (born 1918)
  • Norman Lewis (1909–1979)
  • Thomas Sills (1914–2000)
  • Merton Simpson (born 1928)
  • Alma Thomas (1891–1978)
  • Hale Woodruff (1900–1980)

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