PAPERBACK ISBN: 0-88258-163-5

$32.95

by James A. Porter with an Introduction by David C. Driskell

In the introduction to Modern Negro Art David C. Driskell wrote that the late James A. Porter’s work was the first to denote and define the African impulse and cultural history through visual arts in the United States. This classic text, originally published in 1943, began when Porter spent ten years before that locating and collecting the facts and documents, and then in 1969, he continued his arts’ quest to include new opportunities that arose with the emergence of the “Black Cultural Revolution.”

Future artisans should view this book as a masterful blend of Porter’s salient contributions to the field of African American art scholarship and his successful career as a creative artist.

Advance Comments

As I discovered the difficulty of doing research in the early 1970s for what became in 1981 250 Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography, I marveled at Porter’s devotion, tenacity, and creativity thirty years earlier in tracking down the information for his book. I still do!

—Lynn Moody Igoe

As artists of African descent move to the forefront of the contemporary scene, this book is a “must read” for anyone engaged in the nature, creation, and discourse of art in a truly egalitarian America that expects to prevail into the twenty-first century.

—Leslie King Hammond, The Maryland Institute College of Art

"The intrinsic value of this pioneering work is immeasurable. A “must” for every American art library."

—Jontyle Theresa Robinson, Spelman College

"Modern Negro Art is still an indispensable reference work fifty years after its initial publication. I'm pleased that yet another generation of young scholars will benefit from its keen insights into the early evolution of African Americans in the visual arts, and its astounding bibliographic compilation."

---Lowry S. Sims, Metropolitan Museum of Art

"A pioneering work in its time, Modern Negro Art continues to provide today's scholars with early source information, core bibliographic material, and other essential research tools for African-American art history."

 --- Richard J. Powell, Duke University

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