Archibald J. Motley Jr. / Amy M. Mooney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mooney, Amy M.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Motley, Archibald John, Jr., 1891-1981.

Series:

David C. Driskell series of African American art ; v. 4.

The David C. Driskell series of African American art ; v. 4

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motley, Archibald John, Jr., 1891-1981.

Criticism and interpretation.

Motley, Archibald John, Jr., 1891-1981--Criticism and interpretation.

Motley, Archibald John.

Art and race.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

x, 116 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 29 cm.

Place of Publication:

San Francisco : Pomegranate, [2004]

Summary:

Archibald J. Motley Jr. (1891-1981) devoted his career to portraying African Americans in order to create awareness and appreciation of African American culture among all races, regardless of racial identity, and to promote greater understanding of the fine arts among blacks. Amy M. Mooney examines Motley's work during his most productive years: from the 1920s through the 1940s - a time of great societal change within the United States and a radical change in the expectations of art - and chronicles his contributions to the American art scene. She draws on Motley's prodigious paintings and eloquent writings; recently unearthed taped interviews; unpublished paintings and sketches; and her own interviews, research, and firsthand analysis to present an intimate look at a master chronicler of the dreams, tastes, and urban realities of his day.

Motley was born in New Orleans and grew up in Chicago, studying at The Art Institute of Chicago. First working in portraiture, and philosophically influenced by W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, among others, he presented African Americans as stylish, cultured, and self-possessed, to rebut the prevailing racist notions about blacks. He then turned to the works for which he is most famous: paintings of nightlife in the predominantly black South Side of Chicago and other genre scenes. Motley gained national and international acclaim, but he was identified and lauded as a Negro painter, not recognized as the Regionalist or the painter of the American Scene that he was. He continually negotiated white and black expectations and definitions of African American identity, "just being frankly honest." Following Charles White, Betye Saar, and Faith Ringgold in Pomegranate's David C. Driskell Series of African American Art, Archibald J. Motley Jr. is a critical study of an extraordinary artist whose social consciousness extended beyond his paintings.

Contents:

Chapter 2 A Fine Likeness 3

Chapter 3 Face Value 31

Chapter 4 Painting in the American Scene 60.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy has dustjacket retained.

ISBN:

0764928864

OCLC:

54692339