Richard Hunt

Richard Howard Hunt is one of the most important African American sculptors of the 20th-century. Hunt holds status as one of the foremost African-American abstract sculptors and artists of public sculpture. Hunt, the descendant of slaves, was the first African American sculptor to have a major retrospective at Museum of Modern Art in 1971. Hunt has created over 150 public sculpture commissions in prominent locations in 22 states across the United States, more than any other sculptor. With a career that spans seven decades, Hunt has held over 100 solo exhibitions and is represented in more than 100 public museums. Hunt has served on the Smithsonian Institution's National Board of Directors. Hunt's abstract, modern and contemporary sculpture work is notable for its presence in exhibitions and public displays as early as the 1950s, despite social pressures for the obstruction of African-American art at the time.