Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals
Title
Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals
Date Modified
2025-09-12
Description
The Atlanta University Annuals, originally known as the Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Negro Artists in America, was an annual juried art competition designed for Black diasporic artists, held at Atlanta University from 1942 to 1970. The winning pieces from the Annuals competition were accessioned into the art collection of Atlanta University and comprise the foundation of the CAU Art Museum's permanent collection. There has been a rise in the popularity of portraiture among contemporary artists as they strive to depict the diversity of humanity and the human experience. Artists like Amy Sherald, Kehinde Wiley and Kerry James Marshall are working within a tradition that disrupt narratives that rob Black people of their personhood. Likewise, within the sculptural form, busts of Black people reshape public narratives, disrupt inherent biases, and center the humanity of the Black subject. Portraits and Busts from the Atlanta University Annuals presents a collection of Black artists painting and shaping Black subjects in the mid-20th century.
Curated By
Shyheim Williams
Contributing Institution
Clark Atlanta University
About This Record
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Born in Chicago, Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to Black subjects. Youth is a lithograph portrait of a young man looking into a far-off distance. Cross-hatching contrasts shadow and light across the young man’s face.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Young Mother is a ceramic sculpture of a hooded woman looking off into the distance away from the viewer.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist and educator from Washington, D.C., who repatriated to Mexico. Young Girl is a Terra-Cotta bust of a Black female. It shows Catlett's sculptural skill with sharp details from the subject's hair texture to her expression.
Shelia Pree Bright is a cultural anthropologist and photographer from Waycross, GA. Young Americans Series: Tarrynn Deavens, age 18, African American depicts a young Black woman posing with the American flag binding her arms and mouth. This series is an examination of Generation Y's response to America.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Woman with Kerchief is a terracotta sculpture of a Black woman with her head covered by a tied kerchief.
James Watkins was an artist from Akron, OH. Widow Woman is a portrait of an elderly Black woman wearing a long white dress, a light blue shawl, a pink headwrap, and small golden earrings. She looks straight ahead in solitude, her hands folded over one another.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. We Have Seen His Face is a ceramic bust of a hooded woman with her head raised. The subject holds a reverent expression as she looks toward God.
Charles White was a Black draftsman, printmaker, and painter who illustrated the Southern Black struggle. To the Future shows a Black woman standing cross-armed in front of hills and barren trees; she is scaled more significantly than the landscape. It speaks to African Americans being bigger than their past and a tradition of looking forward.
Harold Lloyd Neal was an artist from Detroit, MI. The Red Robe is a portrait of a woman with a red robe hanging off her shoulders. The subject's breasts are visible as she poses, legs crossed, looking away from the viewer.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. The Pugilist is a limestone sculpture of a Black boxer. Artis chiseled immense detail into the sculpture, capturing the intensity of his expression and hair texture.
Richmond Barthe was a sculptor from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The Angry Christ is an intensely expressive bust of Christ. The bust is incredibly detailed, emphasizing Jesus of Nazareth's Semitic features.
Jewell Woodard Simon was an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and poet from Houston, TX. Teen Enigma is a plaster bust of a young girl looking into the distance with her head raised. She is wearing a collared shirt with the top button clasped.
Henri Linton was an artist and art professor from Tuscaloosa, AL. Stanley is a print of a solemn Black man. The subject rests his head in his hand as he looks past the viewer.
Mark Hewitt was an artist from Boston, MA. Spirit of 366th depicts a portrait of a young Black man from the 366th infantry in an Army uniform. The soldier looks into the distance of a shining light while dark-hued clouds of brown, black, and purple gather overhead.
Joseph D. Atkinson, Jr., was an artist from Atlanta, GA. Solitude depicts a white woman posing in front of a mirror, illuminating her with a lamp. The woman stands slightly profiled while facing the viewer; her right hand is raised, and the left is in a fruit bowl.
Thomas Edward Goodwin was an artist from Chicago, Ill. Self Portrait is a painting of the artist staring toward the viewer. Goodwin wears a yellow sweater in a room with neutral colors and a dark blue curtain. His saturated skin, round eyes, and short black hair help to depict the artist.
Robert A. Daniel was an artist from Tallahassee, FL. Self Portrait depicts the artist in a door frame, looking toward the viewer. Daniel overlays a muted blue watercolor and a gold sketched frame, further centering him as the subject.
James Reuben Reed was a painter born in Kansas City, MI. Self Portrait is a print depiction of the artist staring toward the viewer. In the background are abstract shapes and dark shadows.
Hayward Oubre was a multimedia artist and educator from New Orleans, LA. Self Portrait is an etching of the artist from the shoulders up. His neck, shoulders, ears, and mouth are etched lightly, while his hair, eyebrows, eyes, and mustache are dark and etched deeply.
Frederick C. Flemister, native to Jackson, GA, was a student of Hale A. Woodruff at Atlanta University in the 1940s. Self-Portrait is an impressionistic piece depicting Flemister preparing to paint. He is standing in front of a canvas while holding a paintbrush in his left hand and a palette in his right.
Cecil D Nelson Jr. was a painter born in Champaign, IL. Self Portrait - Confronted Age, 16 depicts a Black male teenager haunted by racial violence. He sits in a chair holding a paintbrush with his hand on his head, wearing a shirt with a target symbol. There is also a rope, mask, and torn newspaper with the headline “lynch.”
Robert A. Daniel was an artist from Tallahassee, FL. Seated Figure is a portrait of a Black woman sitting in a green chair in front of an ironing board. She seems to be resting from doing domestic labor.
Merton D. Simpson was an abstract expressionist painter and African art collector from Brooklyn, N.Y. Portrait of The Wise Men is an oil painting of the three male Biblical magi. The men on the left and right hold texts, and the central man's head is visible between them. Simpson uses muted colors throughout the piece.
Franklin Shands was a painter from Cincinnati, Ohio. Portrait of Jo is a portrait of a woman looking sternly into a distance as a light shines on the left side of her face. The woman, named Jo, wears her black hair pinned upwards, wears a blue top, small earrings, and red lipstick.
John Woodrow Wilson, a sculptor, painter, and printmaker from Roxbury, MA, was known for his creative portraits. Portrait of Claire is a portrait of a young Black woman. Her black hair is styled upwards, and a pink ornament is pinned. She wears a yellow collared blouse, a blue vest, and blue bottoms.
John Woodrow Wilson was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and educator from Roxbury, MA. Negro Woman depicts a Black woman looking toward the distance from the side of her eyes. She is standing outside in a peach-colored shirt with the sun reflecting off of her face. Behind her are large buildings and a dark blue sky.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist and educator from Washington, D.C., who was repatriated to Mexico. Negro Woman is a print depicting a dark-skinned woman looking off into the distance. The piece is in Black and white, aside from her brown face. The woman is wearing a jacket pinned at the collar, an undershirt, and a straw hat.
Elizabeth Catlett was an artist and educator from Washington, D.C., who repatriated to Mexico. Negro Woman is a wooden sculpture of a Black woman. Catlett crafts the woman with an intense stare through careful sculpting and inlaid onyx eyes.
James H. Malone was a graphic artist, cartoonist, writer, and painter from Winterville, GA. My Classmate is a portrait drawing of a young Black boy in a school uniform. He sits in a chair with his hands on his lap, looking at the bottom left corner.
James H. Green, Jr., was an artist from Orangeburg, SC. Mrs. Pepper depicts a woman with a textured bob hairstyle chiseled into stone. Her head is titled in a expression of inquiry.
