41:
lesser known at the time, and existed "almost exclusively outside the mainstream, within a parallel art world with distinct circuits of distribution, value, and reception supported by an enthusiastic black middle class". Many of these artists were quite commercially successful, though rarely, if at all, exhibited in well known galleries. The show's proclaimed purpose was to show a revisionist trend in Black
American genre painting that was undoing the stereotypes of black suffering. The show featured what some might, and did, consider the conservative art of figurative painting. It was through these various representations of the figure that the works themselves, and the show as a whole endeavored to work against racist and modernist stereotypes, caricatures, and characterizations of the black experience. One of the ways in which the curation of the show took seriously the task of discussing these works from a so-called "other art world" was by publishing a catalog that featured full-page reproduction prints of the thirty artists' works.
194:
Some critics didn’t believe that the various figurative paintings belonged together at all beyond the fact that they were figurative. Though many critics found fault with certain paintings on basis of form or merit, certain artists did stand out to different reviewers. Many did find a majority of these artworks middlebrow in a distasteful way. Proponents of the show found that distaste to be exactly the point of the show, to prove how the art world excludes certain classes, varieties, and races of painters from the "inside". As
Kimmelman says, "Much hoop-jumping will be required by those who embrace well-connected white figurative painters like
215:
some in the black community, especially in its own backyard, Harlem, for ignoring precisely this kind of art in favor of the highbrow avant-garde practices that will be accepted downtown. 'Black
Romantic' seems to be an acknowledgment and a questioning of those criticisms, and deserves credit for raising the issue of which black artists are on the inside and which are on the outside, and why."
190:
perceived to be the 'overwrought sentiment' of the art. She 'shuddered at the crass commercialism' and the 'bombastic self-promotion.'The 'absence of irony,' she adds, 'was profound.' So the challenge for her was 'the suspension of judgment -- not curatorial or aesthetic judgment -- but the suspension of value judgment.'"
214:
put it most clearly, saying, "The Studio Museum in Harlem is in an unenviable position. On the one hand, it represents a community and a culture, while on the other it is committed to presenting the foremost achievements of
African-American artists to a wider world. The museum has been criticized by
40:
Black
Romantic was immediately seen as a risky exhibition because it did not cater to the predominant and powerful desires of the art world to see postmodernism and irony in the work of Black American artists. Rather, it was curated from submissions to an open call. Many of the selected artists were
193:
Aside from some critics’ negative opinion of Golden’s curatorial choices, the content of the show itself was controversial because the exhibition was meant to start conversations in the circles of the artworld by portraying work that was seen as kitschy, unfashionable, middle brow, or outsider art.
209:
The show was indeed doing something by bringing these lesser-known in the art world into it. Some claimed it was never done before, which is contestable and was. However, many did think it was a worthwhile endeavor to attempt to disrupt the distinctions between who is in and who is out. The museum
189:
who writes, “I wonder whether Ms. Golden knows the extent to which she comes across as sabotaging her own artists in an accompanying catalog?” He further summarized Golden’s attitude by quoting saying, "While organizing the exhibition, Ms. Golden writes, she was 'physically unsettled' by what she
210:
had done what many accused them of not doing, of representing the people who needed it most, of representing themselves and their neighbors, instead of those already in and fashionable. People and critics also saw that the Studio Museum occupied a tricky position. James
Trainor, writing for
31:
was to show "elements of desire, dreams, determination, and romance particular to the black experience present a viewpoint that is oppositional to modernist conceptualization of blackness flavoured by exogenous exoticism, stereotype, caricature, and even abstractionist manipulation".
176:
specifically to elicit reaction through its inclusion and curation of artworks not seen and accepted in the gallery art world. It garnered a mixed, somewhat negative reception. The main sources of criticism were the quality of the artwork and of
27:, the museum's Chief Curator. Black Romantic was a survey of Contemporary African-American genre painting whose stated purpose, as described by the Director of The Studio Museum,
380:
370:
385:
365:
341:
237:
85:
375:
97:
20:
45:
57:
113:
93:
153:
105:
69:
53:
149:
137:
73:
61:
263:
133:
109:
101:
81:
77:
65:
145:
129:
125:
157:
89:
182:
28:
211:
186:
141:
195:
181:'s own attitude towards the show. The most direct and scathing of these attitudes came from
203:
309:
199:
359:
178:
173:
161:
117:
24:
121:
202:
to reject some of the unfashionable artists here -- or to say that an artist like
49:
287:
17:
Black
Romantic: The Figurative Impulse in Contemporary African-American Art
23:
from 25 April, 2002 until 23 June, 2002. The show was curated by
238:"Black Romantic | The Figurative Impulse in Cont Af Am Art"
206:
is lousy but these artists are not. Or vice versa."
264:"Black Romantic at The Studio Museum in Harlem"
8:
342:"ART REVIEW; A Black World Of Ins and Outs"
335:
333:
331:
329:
281:
279:
277:
224:
381:April 2002 events in the United States
44:The artists included in the show were:
340:Kimmelman, Michael (April 26, 2002).
7:
371:Art exhibitions in the United States
303:
301:
232:
230:
228:
310:"A World Apart | The Village Voice"
286:Trainor, James (9 September 2002).
14:
262:Dailey, Meghan (January 2002).
19:was an exhibition held at the
1:
172:The show had been curated by
308:Jerry, Saltz (May 7, 2002).
294:(69) – via frieze.com.
402:
242:new.diaspora-artists.net
168:Reception and criticism
21:Studio Museum in Harlem
98:Oliver B. Johnson, Jr.
386:2002 in New York City
366:African-American art
314:www.villagevoice.com
58:Jules R. Arthur, III
36:Curation and artists
94:Robert L. Jefferson
346:The New York Times
183:The New York Times
106:Jonathan M. Knight
29:Lowery Stokes Sims
187:Michael Kimmelman
70:Nina I. Buxenbaum
54:Iana L. N. Amauba
393:
350:
349:
337:
324:
323:
321:
320:
305:
296:
295:
288:"Black Romantic"
283:
272:
271:
268:www.artforum.com
259:
253:
252:
250:
249:
234:
196:Elizabeth Peyton
150:Hulbert Waldroup
138:Philip Smallwood
74:Clifford Darrett
62:Alexander Austin
401:
400:
396:
395:
394:
392:
391:
390:
356:
355:
354:
353:
339:
338:
327:
318:
316:
307:
306:
299:
285:
284:
275:
261:
260:
256:
247:
245:
236:
235:
226:
221:
204:Norman Rockwell
170:
134:Jonathon Romain
110:Jeanette Madden
102:Troy L. Johnson
82:Lawrence Finney
78:Keith J. Duncan
66:Marlon H. Banks
38:
12:
11:
5:
399:
397:
389:
388:
383:
378:
376:Figurative art
373:
368:
358:
357:
352:
351:
325:
297:
273:
254:
223:
222:
220:
217:
200:Lisa Yuskavage
169:
166:
146:Toni L. Taylor
130:Robert V. Reid
126:Leslie Printis
86:Gerald Griffin
37:
34:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
398:
387:
384:
382:
379:
377:
374:
372:
369:
367:
364:
363:
361:
347:
343:
336:
334:
332:
330:
326:
315:
311:
304:
302:
298:
293:
289:
282:
280:
278:
274:
269:
265:
258:
255:
243:
239:
233:
231:
229:
225:
218:
216:
213:
207:
205:
201:
197:
191:
188:
184:
180:
179:Thelma Golden
175:
174:Thelma Golden
167:
165:
163:
162:Kehinde Wiley
159:
158:Shamek Weddle
155:
151:
147:
143:
139:
135:
131:
127:
123:
119:
118:Dean Mitchell
115:
111:
107:
103:
99:
95:
91:
87:
83:
79:
75:
71:
67:
63:
59:
55:
51:
47:
42:
35:
33:
30:
26:
25:Thelma Golden
22:
18:
345:
317:. Retrieved
313:
291:
267:
257:
246:. Retrieved
241:
208:
192:
171:
154:Larry Walker
122:Kadir Nelson
90:James Hoston
46:Alonzo Adams
43:
39:
16:
15:
185:. Reviewer
50:Leroy Allen
360:Categories
319:2020-07-11
248:2020-07-11
219:References
114:Cal Massey
142:Aj Smith
292:Frieze
244:. 2014
212:Frieze
160:, and
198:and
362::
344:.
328:^
312:.
300:^
290:.
276:^
266:.
240:.
227:^
164:.
156:,
152:,
148:,
144:,
140:,
136:,
132:,
128:,
124:,
120:,
116:,
112:,
108:,
104:,
100:,
96:,
92:,
88:,
84:,
80:,
76:,
72:,
68:,
64:,
60:,
56:,
52:,
48:,
348:.
322:.
270:.
251:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.