Successions: Prints by African American Artists from the Jean and Robert Steele Collection

Successions: Prints by African American Artists from the Jean and Robert Steele Collection , features 62 works of traditional and non-traditional printmaking techniques such as etching, monoprint, lithography, linocut, and silkscreen, by 45 artists including Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, David Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Margo Humphrey, Jacob Lawrence, Stephanie Pogue, Faith Ringgold, Lou Stovall, William T. Williams and James L. Wells. The exhibition highlights the remarkable focus of the Jean and Robert Steele Collection. Dr. Robert Steele, Associate Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, and wife Jean, have been at the forefront of collecting works on paper by African American artists for the last 30 years.

Instrumental in the Steele's collecting has been their patronage of printmaking workshops that have been established by, and focus on African American artists, such as Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop, Inc. in New York City; Allan Edmunds' Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA; and Lou Stovall's Workshop, Inc. and Percy Martin's WD Graphics Studio, both in Washington, DC. In addition to workshops established by African Americans, works in the collection also represent various institutions with which African American artists have collaborated with such as Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM and the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, New Brunswick, NJ.

"The Steeles are endeavoring to create a systematic structure to support African American art," says exhibition curator Adrienne Childs in her catalogue essay. "Although there are few public or private collections of this nature, the Steeles recognize the need to support black printmakers and the systems that sustain them in order to ensure the longevity and vitality of this important medium."

"Jean and Robert Steele have amassed a significant body of work and have become an integral part of the culture of printmaking and the interconnected community of African American art," curator Adrienne Childs concludes in her essay.

Artists in the exhibition:

A selected bibilography is available by clicking here .

The exhibition and lecture are presented in conjunction with the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora .

This program is supported, in part, by The Art Gallery, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Consortium for Race, Gender and Ethnicity and the College of Arts and Humanities , University of Maryland.