Art History Project

1. FINAL PRESENTATION
EXHIBITION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN
ART
By: Maria Catalina Olivares
UCF - SUMMER 2015
ARH - 3170C
Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.
-Pablo Picasso

2. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis
When questioned how she
became an artist, she replied:
"well, it was a strange selection
for a poor girl to make, wasn’t
it? I suppose it was in me ... I
became almost crazy to make
something like the thing which
fascinated me."
-Edmonia Lewis
Citation - Edmonia

3. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey
"Kofi Bailey's art revealed
the historical antecedents of
black freedom struggles and
emphasized the people-
centered force of the black
political and cultural
movements of that period." -
James Early, 1998
-Herman Bailey
Citation - Bailey

4. Exhibition Statement
Art can be used to empower people and bring them together. In the works of art of
(Mary) Edmonia Lewis and Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey we see how they use their art to
show the strength and determination of African Americans and attempt to promote
people to stand up for their rights. We can see many similarities in their artwork even
though they come from different eras. Both of these artists use their artworks to
express their opinions and get people to think about their situations and the times that
they live in. Edmonia Lewis lived in the Post Civil War era, which influenced her work
as seen in the sculpture Forever Free, which shows a slave breaking free form chains
of slavery. Similarly, Herman Bailey drawings of a hand raised toward a star called
Unity represents the demands of African American for equal rights following World
War II. Overall, Edmonia Lewis’ artwork displays the strength of her people who are
trying to move on from slavery to freedom. Whereas, Herman Bailey uses his art to
try to prove that African Americans can be constructive citizens of this country and
have a lot to offer in the political, economical and social world. Also, we can see both
of their art works elicit a response to stand up and fight for their rights. I like how art
can be a medium of communication that can be used to send a message to a vast
amount of people. These artist are able to express and share their views of the world
with others and by that shine a light on many of the injustices of their times.
Citation - Lewis, Samella

5. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, 1867. Marble. Howard
University. Gallery ofArt.
This sculpture was inspired by
emancipation of African-
American slaves after the Civil
War. Edmonia shows the
struggles of her race and her
roots. It shows humans with
hope and strength breaking free
from the chains of slavery.
However, the figures still have
chains around their wrist and
ankles, which represent that
even when free, they are still
bound to their past and
challenges in the coming future.

6. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis, Hagar in the Wilderness, 1868. Marble.
Another statue that reflected
Edmonia background, this is a
statue of an Egyptian woman
called Hagar. Hagar is from the
biblical book of Genesis and
would have been considered
black from the nineteenth
century perspective. Hagar
was an Egyptian slave who
would bore a son for Abraham
and in the sculpture we can
see Hagar in a submissive
position awaiting her fate.
Citation - Lewis

7. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis, Indians in Battle, 1868. Marble.
Edmonia Lewis was of Native
American descent through her
mother and was raised in a
Native American tribe. Her
work often depicts oppressed
groups like African Americans
and Native Americans. The
following statue depicts three
American Indian fighting. The
sculpture is incredibly dynamic
and dramatic showing two
Indians standing up while one
holds a knife and the other one
fights for his life with a third
man on the ground struggling
to pull himself up.

8. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis, Bust ofAbraham Lincoln, 1870. Marble.
This is a bust of Abraham
Lincoln, which is among one of
the best-known sculptures of
Edmonia. She clearly captured
the likeness of the president
with a stern and conflicted
expression. Lincoln was the
sixteenth president of the
United States who ended
slavery with the Emancipation
Proclamation. It is interesting to
ponder what Edmonia thought
of Abraham Lincoln who free
slaves in the United States but
was not seen as a hero among
Native Americans.

9. (Mary) Edmonia Lewis, John Brown, 1876. Marble.
This is a bust of abolitionist hero
John Brown, a white-American
who believed armed insurrection
was the only way to end slavery.
It is believed that Brown’s
rebellion escalated tension that
would lead to secession and the
American Civil War. In this bust
Edmonia, of African American
decent through her father,
immortalizes a man who played
a part of the end of the slavery.
This image elicits a will to stand
up and fight.
Citation - Brown

10. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey, Unity, 1961. Mixed media, 40” x 30”.
Collection of Samella Lewis.
This artwork by Bailey shows the
political and social concepts of
self-determination through self-
expression. In the artwork we see
an arm, representing African
Americans, reaching for the “all-
seeing eye,” the eye of African
American unity, which overlooks
all. This is a symbol of unity and
having the arm reaching for it
creates an incredible moving and
strong visual image. It makes you
wants to stand up and unity
against the world.

11. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey, Birth. Mixed media, 40” x 30”.
Herman Bailey is best known
for his work reflecting the
African American experience
and Pan-Africanism
philosophy. We can see in this
drawing how Bailey empowers
African Americans by showing
an African American Doctor
delivering a baby. This
drawing comes in a period of
time when African Americans
are fighting for equal rights in
all aspect of the American life
and show that they can
contribute to society.

12. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey, Untitled, 1962. Mixed media. Drawing.
The drawing shows a subtle
image of an African American
who seems to be conflicted.
Bailey shows his great
understating of human
sensibilities and emotions in the
portrait of this figure that needs
little background to define his
situation. The image shows him
alone struggling, which reflects
the struggles that African
American encounter during this
time. However, the image still
has a sense of hope, as the
figure is upright with the will to
continue.

13. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, 1968. Poster
campaign, 339 x 471.
The following poster shows Bailey
involvement in the political world of his
time. Besides Pan-Africanism, Bailey
covered other areas of the African-
American experience such as Black
Power, anti-colonialism, and African-
American civil rights. In this work of
art, Bailey portraits Martin Luther King,
Jr., a leader in the African-American
Civil Rights Movement. This is a
Poster for the Poor People's
Campaign, 1968, which was an effort
to gain economic justice for poor
people in the USA.

14. Herman (“Kofi”) Bailey, Untitled [Boy Reading by Gaslight], 1970.
Pastel and Charcoal, 40” x 30”.
Bailey was best known for his
conte and charcoal drawings as
shown here, which depicts and
African American reading at night.
This is another image that seems
to show bailey’s desire to
empower African American in his
drawings. There is a great use of
color and employs geometric and
figurative elements and including
aspects of character common to
all mankind, almost encouraging
all those around him to fight for a
respectable life.

15. Citations
Bailey, Herman. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2015. Web. 16 July 2015
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Bailey)
Brown, John. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2015. Web. 16 July 2015
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)
Edmonia Lewis. The Indomitable Sprit of Edmonia Lewis, 2014. Web. 16 July 2015
(http://www.edmonialewis.com/favorite_quotations.htm0
Lewis, Edmonia. Encyclopedia of Worlds Biography. 2008. Web. 16 July 2015
(http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Edmonia_Lewis.aspx)
Lewis, Samella S,. African American Art and Artists. California: University of
California Press, 2003. Book. 16 July 2015