Carl G. Hill

KKK Lynching – African-American Artist

c. 1937-38

Robert Riggs, 'Children's Ward', 2-color lithograph, c. 1940, edition c. 50, Beall 11, Bassham 76. Signed, titled, and numbered '14' in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A su...

Robert Riggs, 'Psychopathic Ward', 2-color lithograph, c. 1940, edition c. 50, Beall 60, Bassham 78. Signed, titled, and numbered '14' in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A ...

Ernst Haeckel, 'Art Forms in Nature' (Plate 79 - Basiliscus), offset lithograph, 1899. Signed and titled in typeset, upper left. Titled 'Tafel 79 — Basi...

Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...

VENDEDORA DE PERIÓDICOS is a limited edition lithograph by the acclaimed African American woman artist, sculptor and printmaker, Elizabeth Catlett (April 15, 1915 - April 2, 2012) printed in black ink on archival Plike cream colored Italian made paper using traditional lithography techniques in collaboration with Elizabeth Catlett. Hand signed in pencil P/P (Printers Proof) aside from the edition of 60, unframed, mint condition, from the master printers private collection. Edition size - 60, plus proofs Paper size - 24.25" x 18.5", Image size - 18.25" x 13" Year printed - 2010 Never been framed, pencil signed, dated, inscribed P/P(Printers Proof) aside from Edition of 60, hand deckled paper edges, printers chop mark embossed on lower left corner, COA provided, from the master printers private collection Elizabeth Catlett dedicated her art to images reflecting the history and culture of African-American and Mexican peoples...

"Approach to the Fortress of Ibrim, Nubia" is a 19th century folio sized hand-colored lithograph from the Egypt and Nubia volume of David Roberts’ large folio edition, published in London by F. G. Moon in 1847. The lithographs were prepared by Louis Haghe (1806-1885) from drawings and paintings by Roberts. The resultant large folio editions of 'The Holy Land' and 'Egypt & Nubia' are considered the greatest lithographically illustrated works issued in the 19th century. The print is presented in a gold-colored wood frame with a decorative inner trim, with a cream-colored double mat. It is in excellent condition. The lithograph depicts the Fortress of Ibrim in Nubia in the background, which had been a Roman and an Egyptian fortification for centuries due to its strategic elevation, allowing a view of large portions of the surrounding desert. Men are securing the boat in the foreground for the night, taking down its sails. A herd of cattle drinks and cools themselves in the water on the left. There are four additional listings of David Roberts engravings of Egypt...

Joseph Floch (1894-1977). Young Girl, c.1930s. Lithograph on paper, plate measures 9 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches. Measures 17 x 21 inches framed. Excellent condition with no damage or conser...

Finely detailed late 19th century chromo-lithograph portrait of a violinist street musician by John George Brown (British, 1831-1913). Many of Brown’s paintings were reproduced in lithography (Chromo-lithograpy), as is the case with the one offered here. Presented in a rustic antique Oak wood frame with giltwood fillet. Image, 15.63"H x 10.63"W. John George Brown was a British citizen and an American painter born in Durham, England. His parents apprenticed him to the career of glass worker at the age of fourteen, in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing painting. He studied nights at the School of Design in Newcastle-on-Tyne while working as a glass cutter there between 1849 and 1852, and evenings at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh while working at the Holyrood Glass Works between 1852 ad 1853. After moving to New York City in 1853, he studied with Thomas Seir Cummings at the National Academy of Design where he was elected a National Academician in 1861. Brown was the Academy’s vice-president from 1899 to 1904. Around 1855, he worked for the owner of the Brooklyn Glass Company, and later he married the daughter of his employer. His father-in-law encouraged his artistic abilities, supporting him financially, letting Brown pursue painting full-time. In 1866, he became one of the charter members of the Water-Color Society, of which he was president from 1887 to 1904. Brown became famous for his depictions of street urchins found of the streets of New York (bootblacks, street musicians, posy sellers, newsboys, etc.). Brown’s art is best characterized as British genre painting...