For centuries, Black creatives were largely excluded from the Western art-historical record. Slowly, however, a body of literature on influential Black artists and art movements has been building, including books that employ documentation as an act of resistance to predominantly white European art-historical narratives. Here are five of them.
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BLK ART: The Audacious Legacy of Black Artists and Models in Western Art, by Zaria Ware
Zaria Ware grew up in love with history, but when it came to Black art history, information was scarce. Redressing this lack, BLK ART, a 2024 NAACP Image Awards Nominee for Outstanding Non-Fiction, presents an alternative art history that highlights Black subjects seen in medieval and Victorian paintings, as well as the Black artists who shattered barriers in the 19th-century art world. The book is split into two parts. In the first, Ware presents common themes encountered in her research on images of Black people throughout history, including the use of headdresses to cover Black hair and the whitewashing of Black figures in Greek mythology and art. In part two, she offers in-depth biographies of prominent Black artists who served as precursors to the Harlem Renaissance, including Robert Seldon Duncanson, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Edmonia Lewis, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.
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Now You See Me, by Charlene Prempeh
Charlene Prempeh, founder of the creative agency A Vibe Called Tech, covers 100 years of Black design in Now You See Me. The book provides extensive biographies of earlier Black creatives in the fields of graphic arts, architecture, and fashion, putting their work in conversation with that of contemporary figures. Illustrated with archival and documentary photographs, the book shines a light on underknown Black designers, while emphasizing design’s importance in shaping cultural, economic, and social attitudes. For example, Prempeh profiles clothing designer Ann Lowe, who was first labeled by the media as Jackie Kennedy’s “colored woman dressmaker,” and reproduces the letter Lowe sent the former first lady about how the statement and Kennedy’s lack of response hurt her. Other artists featured include fashion icon Dapper Dan, architects Norma Sklarek and Francis Kéré, graphic designer Emory Douglas and cartoonist Liz Montague. Prempeh pairs her historical writing with Q&As featuring today’s Black design luminaries, including celebrity stylist Law Roach.
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Black, Queer, & Untold: A New Archive of Designers, Artists, & Trailblazers, by Jon Key
Jon Key was one of the few Black people in his graduating class at the Rhode Island School of Design. In the first pages of Black, Queer, & Untold, he recounts how hungry he was to see himself reflected in a field that largely privileges work by white, straight men. While it is not exhaustive, his book is a wide-ranging guide to Black queer designers from the 19th century to today. Focusing primarily on American artists and designers for print, Key combines personal narratives, archival materials, photos and other documentation to craft a tribute to Black creatives in the industry from the 1800s to the present day. Accounts of writers and publications that impacted the progress of Black queer design are also included, with space devoted to Black magazines such as Jet, Ebony, and Gregory D. Victorianne’s Buti Voxx and writers like Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde.
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An Anthology of Blackness: The State of Black Design, edited by Terresa Moses and Omari Souza
In An Anthology of Blackness, editors Terresa Moses and Omari Souza, both leading designers and design professors, uncover how the design field has failed to attract and support Black professionals. With contributions from the likes of Tracey L. Moore, Kelly Walters, Jennifer White-Johnson, and Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall (who wrote the foreword), the book uses opinion pieces, case studies, visual narratives and essays to make the case for a more inclusive industry. The book is split into three sections. “Black Design Industry and Organization” provides an overview of Black experiences in the industry and emphasizes initiatives, including youth programs designExplorr and Creative Reaction Lab, working to make that space more inclusive; “Black Design Pedagogy” scrutinizes academia; and “Black Design Activism” discusses design’s importance in Black protest movements.
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All These Liberations: Women Artists in the Eileen Harris Norton Collection, edited by Taylor Renee Aldridge
Collector and philanthropist Eileen Harris Norton is known for shaping the Los Angeles art scene and championing artists and curators of color. Norton started collecting art when she and her mother, Rosalind Van Meter Harris, attended a printmaking workshop led by California-based organizer and arts advocate Ruth Waddy at L.A.’s Museum of African American Art, an experience that informed her activist approach to collecting. Featuring work by women artists of color in Norton’s collection and essays by art historians and curators, this book explores the political, social and personal issues that affect all women of color, with an emphasis on art by Black women like Alma Thomas, Adrian Piper and Xiomara De Oliver.
