Foreword

Rondeau, James; Lowry, Glenn D.

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Foreword

James Rondeau and Glenn D. Lowry

Charles White: A Retrospective

Charles White (1918–1979) powerfully interpreted African American history and culture over the course of his four-decade career...

Author

James Rondeau and Glenn D. Lowry

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-100003

Foreword

Charles White (1918–1979) powerfully interpreted African American history and culture over the course of his four-decade career. A superbly gifted draftsman and printmaker as well as a talented mural and easel painter, he developed a distinctive and labor-intensive approach to art making, remaining committed to a representational style at a time when the art world increasingly favored abstraction. His work magnified the power of the black figure through scale and form, communicating universal human themes while also focusing attention on the lives of African Americans and the struggle for equality. This exhibition—the first major retrospective of White’s work in more than thirty-five years—showcases a gifted and influential artist whose work continues to resonate amid today’s national dialogues about race, work, equality, and history.

White, a native Chicagoan, sketched in the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago as a child. In grade school he received an award to attend drawing classes at the museum and in high school earned a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. White had won other scholarships that were revoked because of his race—few prominent art academies then accepted African American students. The Art Institute's support was critical in White’s path to becoming a professional artist, as it also offered him early exhibition opportunities, including the display of Native Son No. 2 (pl. 12) in the museum’s Twenty-First International Exhibition of Watercolors in 1942. It was also in Chicago that he found his first job, as a Works Progress Administration easel painter and muralist. His murals soon brought him to the attention of The Museum of Modern Art through curator Dorothy Miller, who saw and admired them in 1941.

Both museums have continued their early interest in and commitment to White’s work. The Art Institute purchased the exquisite charcoal drawing Harvest Talk (pl. 43) in 1991 and now boasts a collection of fifty works by White. His virtuosic oil-wash drawing Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man) (pl. 99), which The Museum of Modern Art acquired in 2013, was the subject of a monograph by Esther Adler and featured in the 2017 exhibition Charles White—Leonardo da Vinci. Curated by David Hammons. We are delighted to present this retrospective in the three cities that the artist called home: Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

Sarah Kelly Oehler, Field-McCormick Chair and Curator of American Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Esther Adler, associate curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art, have shown exemplary dedication in bringing this catalogue and exhibition to fruition. Kerry James Marshall contributed a moving statement about his mentor. Our colleagues at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, led by director Michael Govan, have embraced the project. Special recognition is due to the many private and institutional lenders who entrusted us with the care and display of their artworks. Crucially, the exhibition could not have been realized without the blessing of White’s family. C. Ian White, the keeper of his father’s legacy, offered enthusiastic support from the beginning. His willingness to facilitate research and loans has been vital, and we are grateful.

In Chicago, lead funding was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and Denise and Gary Gardner. We also thank corporate sponsors Allstate and ComEd. Annual support for the Art Institute exhibitions is provided by the Exhibitions Trust. Charles White: A Retrospective is part of Art Design Chicago, and we acknowledge the Terra Foundation for American Art and its partner, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, for their support. The Terra Foundation has also provided critical funding for the presentation of the exhibition in New York, as have significant donors who contribute to MoMA's Annual Exhibition Fund.

White never abandoned the activism that inspired his art, which was animated by an enduring hope that change is possible. He articulated this belief eloquently in a 1970 statement: “My work takes shape around images and ideas that are centered within the vortex of a black life experience, a nitty-gritty ghetto experience resulting in contradictory emotions: anguish, hope, love, despair, happiness, faith, lack of faith, dreams. Stubbornly holding on to an elusive romantic belief that the people of this land cannot always be insensible to the dictates of justice or deaf to the voice of humanity.” It is our privilege to honor White’s legacy by sharing his voice with new generations.

James Rondeau
President and Eloise W. Martin Director
The Art Institute of Chicago

Glenn D. Lowry
Director
The Museum of Modern Art, New York

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