Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals
Title
Portraits and Busts in the Atlanta University Annuals
Date Modified
2025-09-17
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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William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, DC. A Terra-Cotta Head is a bust of a woman with a solemn expression. The bust has a slight head tilt with an elongated neck.
Robert Blackburn was a notable printmaker from Summit, NJ who grew up in Harlem, NY. Boy with Green Head is a print of a green-headed boy wearing a black shirt with a muted background. The boy is looking at the viewer with a pensive expression.
Samuel Albert Countee was a New Negro movement painter and sculptor from Marshall, TX. Brown Girl depicts a nude Black woman in nature. She has a thoughtful expression as she touches the branches that obscure her groin. In the background is a garden scene of pink flowers and lush trees.
Guy L. Miller was an artist from Los Angeles, CA. Character is a sculpture of the head of a bearded Black man. His eyes are closed, and he looks as if he is in a deep slumber. The marble sculpture head has a deep black color, invoking fortitude and calm.
Richmond Barthe was a sculptor from Bay St. Louis, MS. Christina is a plaster and bronze bust of a woman with a pensive expression mounted on a dark pedestal.
Romeyn van Vleck Lippman was a 19th-century painter and educator. Church is a portrait of a man and woman with a cathedral in the distance. The woman embraces herself and glances away from the man as he leans toward her. They both wear red cloaks, and the woman wears a white headdress.
James Reuben Reed was a painter born in Kansas City, MO. Depressed is an oil painting of a seated man wearing a tattered gray suit, a hat, and black shoes. He is leaning forward, whiting a piece of wood and looking toward the viewer.
Charles Henry Alston was a Harlem Renaissance painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist, and teacher. Farm Boy is a portrait of a young Black boy holding a hat and tool on a farm. Alston photographed Black Southern life in North Carolina when he visited rural and farm sites with a Farm Security Administration inspector.
Calvin Burnett was a graphic artist, illustrator, painter, designer, and art teacher from Cambridge, MA. Head depicts a racially ambiguous woman from her neck up. Burnette draws the subject passively, looking past the viewer. The subject has fine hair, a thin nose, Asian eyes, and full lips, which complicate determining her racial identity.
Houston E. Chandler was a sculptor, printmaker, painter, and teacher from Saint Louis, MO. Head is a wooden bust of an African person with distinct features. Chandler crafts a voluminous mouth, nose, and forehead and elongated ears that enhances its indegneity.
William Artis was a sculptor from Washington, NC. Head of a Young Lady is a limestone bust of a woman. The subject has pursed lips and a broad neck, maintaining a critical expression toward the viewer.
Charles White was a painter, printmaker, muralist, and educator known for his stylistic approach to African American subjects from Chicago, IL. John Brown is a print portrait of its namesake. He was a prominent member of the American abolitionist movement. The print portrays Brown in dark hues as he stares off into the distance.
Frederick C. Flemister was an artist from Jackson, GA. Man with Brush is a mannerist self-portrait depicting him in front of an arched window at an empty canvas. Outside of the window is a landscape scene featuring a lake, rolling hillsides, and mountains in the distance.
Calvin Burnett was a graphic artist, illustrator, painter, designer, and art teacher from Cambridge, MA. Marcus Garvey is a portrait of its namesake, a Jamaican political activist. Marcus Garvey was a renowned Black nationalist and Pan-Africanist.
Jewell Woodard Simon was an internationally acclaimed artist, teacher, and poet from Houston, TX. Margaret is a plaster bust of a Black woman. Like her other sculptures, Simon details the subject's features, including her nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and hair texture.
Marion Perkins was a sculptor from Marche, AK. Mother and Child is a limestone bust of its namesake. The mother is placed behind the child as she holds his head. The mother looks toward the viewer as the child looks away.
John N. Robinson, born in Washington, D.C., was a self-taught painter. Mr. and Mrs. Barton is an oil painting of an elderly black couple inside their home. The husband is standing in a suit, while the wife is sitting in a sweater and gray dress. Behind them are two framed portraits, a vanity, and the doorway to the kitchen.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
