edited by Christine Y. Kim and Myrtle Elizabeth Andrews
Spanning over two centuries from around 1800 to the present day, Black American Portraits chronicles the ways in which Black Americans have used portraiture to envision themselves in their own eyes. This selection of 140 works from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art highlights emancipation, scenes from the Harlem Renaissance, portraits from the Civil Rights and Black Power eras, multiculturalism of the 1990s and the spirit of Black Lives Matter. Countering a visual culture that often demonizes Blackness and fetishizes the spectacle of Black pain, these images center love, abundance, family, community and exuberance. The book depicts Black figures in a range of mediums such as painting, drawing, prints, photography, sculpture, mixed media and time-based media.
See the Jones Library Antiracism Book List for recommended titles for all ages.