African American Highlights -- Art Inventories

Inventories of American Painting & Sculpture

African American Highlights – Inventories of American Painting & Sculpture

This is a small sampling of works listed in the Inventories which pertain to African Americans and African American history. Follow the links below and explore our nation’s rich collection of African American art.

Find depictions of African Americans in paintings:

Find works by these selected African American painters:

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937)

Robert S. Duncanson (1821/22-1872)

Edward Mitchell Bannister (1821-1901

Joshua Johnson (ca. 1763-after 1826)

Charles Ethan Porter (1847/48-1923)

Other African American painters:

John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Grafton Tyler Brown (1841-1918)

Search the Inventories of American Painting & Sculpture

Read more about the Inventories of American Painting & Sculpture

For questions about searching the Inventories, or for more information, please contact us at artref@si.edu or (202) 275-1932

African American History

“I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education. I leave you a respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you a racial dignity. I leave you a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow men. I leave you finally, a responsibility to our young people.” -Mary McLeod Bethune

Civil Rights Movement

“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” –Martin Luther King, Jr.

Memorials to
Martin Luther King, Jr.