AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS

Although the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art began exhibiting art by African artists in 1941, it was not until 1973 that African American art was shown in two exhibitions. One was a faculty exhibition from Memphis academic institutions, including LeMoyne-Owen College, the other was Highlights from the Atlanta University Collection of Afro-American Art. Collecting also began in the 1970s with the purchase of works on paper by Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. A significant painting by Sam Gilliam was acquired in 1980 with funding provided by Art Today. Since then, the museum has dramatically increased its holdings across a range of media, with particular strengths in photography—the largest museum collection of Ernest C. Withers and the remaining archives of the Memphis World newspaper; sculpture—Sonya Clark and Chakaia Booker; sound—Whitfield Lovell; prints—Glenn Ligon and Alison Saar; drawings—Radcliffe Bailey; decorative arts—Loretta Pettway quilt; and couture—Patrick Kelly.