Self-portrait

Yesterday we were celebrating Chinese New Year, but February is also Black History Month. We always regret that due to copyrights we can't feature as many Black artists as we would like (we can feature only artists who died before 1952, which is why we don't have much contemporary art in general). Anyways, this February we will focus on as many Black artists as we can. Let's start with Horace Pippin. 

Horace Pippin was a self-taught American artist who painted a range of themes, including scenes inspired by his service in World War I, landscapes, portraits, and Biblical subjects. Some of his best-known works address the U.S. history of slavery and racial segregation.

After World War I, Pippin, who had no formal art training, wrote and illustrated memoirs of his combat experience in which his right arm had been permanently disabled. By the 1930s he was burning designs into wood panels and making paintings that found a ready audience in an art world then keen on self-taught painters. By his death in 1946, he had mounted solo shows in Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago; won prizes in important contemporary art annuals; garnered attention in the national and international press; and sold most of his 130 or so paintings, wood panels, and drawings to museums and influential collectors across the country.

As we can see, this self-portrait is a monumental statement of self-confidence. The figure’s props, skin color, and confidence identify him as a serious painter of African descent, a cohort then receiving a measure of overdue attention in the realm of contemporary art.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

P.S. Here you can read more about Horace Pippin's life and works!