Contact:

Raymond Ward
(773) 947-0600 ext 228
rward@dusablemuseum.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

DuSABLE MUSEUM UNVEILS MAJOR NEW

EXHIBITION
OF SELDOM-SEEN ART TREASURES
Chicago, IL. (4 February 2016) --- The DuSable Museum of African American History will
unveil a new exhibition of art from its collection entitled The DuSable Masterworks
Collection - Series I: Paintings. The exhibition will open on Tuesday, February 9,
2016 and continue through January 2017, at the Museum which is located at 740
East 56th Place (57th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue) in Chicago.
The DuSable Masterworks Collection- Series I: Paintings is an exhibition which
highlights the works of some of the greatest and most prolific African American artists.
Serving as Guest Curator for the exhibition is renowned artist and printmaker Paula
Garrett-Ellis and the Key Adviser is former Gallery owner and Art Patron, Isobel Neal.
Included in the exhibition are paintings by Henry Ossawa Tanner, William A. Harper,
William Edouard Scott and Archibald Motley, Jr., among others. This unique, diverse and
beautiful collection of work is the first in a series which will allow visitors to engage with
the DuSable Museums world-class Fine Arts Collection. The depth and breadth of these
accomplished artists will provide the public and the City of Chicago with a thirst and
desire to see more.
Perri L. Irmer, President and CEO of the DuSable Museum stated, We are pleased and
proud to share our newest exhibition, The DuSable Masterworks Collection Series I:
Paintings with our visitors. This unique selection of works by some of the most prominent
African American artists of the late 19th and early 20th century, some of which are being
displayed for the very first time and others which have not been on public view for many
years, represents but a fraction of The DuSable Museums fine art collection.
Ms. Irmer continued, In keeping with the DuSables mission to honor African and African
American history, art and culture, we have selected some of our most significant paintings
which reflect not only the interests and life of our founder, Dr. Margaret Burroughs, but
which also exemplify this Museums ongoing commitment to preserve and present the
work of African American artists.
---more--DuSable Masterworks Collection Opens

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Featured Artists:
Henry Ossawa Tanner One of the first African American painters to gain international fame was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1869. The oldest of nine children and the son of an Episcopal
minister Tanner studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in 1891 moved
to Paris. Nicodemus Visiting Jesus is one of his most famous works. Tanner is also
known for the paintings The Banjo Lesson and The Thankful Poor. Henry Ossawa
Tanner died in 1937 in Paris, France.
Archibald John Motley, Jr.
Motley was born in New Orleans, but his family moved to Chicago when he was very
young. He would go on to become one of the first Black artists to attend the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago. He was influenced by the writings of W.E.B.DuBois and Harlem
Renaissance leader Alain Locke and believed that art could help to end racial prejudice. In
the 1920s he produced some of his best-known works including Woman Peeling
Apples, Mending Socks, and Old Snuff Dipper. In 1926 Motley received a
Guggenheim Fellowship which funded a yearlong stay in Paris. There he created Jockey
Club, and Blues, two notable works portraying groups of expatriates.
William Edouard Scott While growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, William Edouard Scott demonstrated an early
aptitude for art. In 1904, he moved to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute
and while a student there, Scott was commissioned to complete several murals in local
schools: they are the earliest public works depicting African American subjects. In 1909,
Scott traveled to France, where he studied with Henry Ossawa Tanner. While abroad, he
painted realistic images of Paris and the French countryside that reflected his academic
training and the influence of Tanner. When he returned to Chicago, Scott sold his Paris
paintings and was able to fund a second trip to Europe, during which he studied at the
Acedemie Julien and the Academie Colarossi in Paris. He returned to the United States in
1914 and devoted himself to documenting the experiences of Black people, traveling and
sketching throughout the rural south.
William A. Harper William Harper is considered one of the significant figures of African American art at the
turn of the twentieth-century, whose early death at age thirty-seven cut short an
exceptional career. Born in Cayuga, Ontario, Harper moved with his family to
Jacksonville, Illinois in 1891. After studying art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Harper left
for France in 1903, studying briefly with Henry Ossawa Tanner.
About The DuSable Museum of African American History
The DuSable Museum of African American History is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the
country. Our mission is to collect, preserve and display artifacts and objects that promote understanding
and inspire appreciation of the achievements, contributions and experiences of African Americans through
exhibits, programs and activities that illustrate African and African American history, culture and art. For
more information on the Museum and its programs, please call (773) 947-0600 or visit us at
www.dusablemuseum.org
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