Hammonds House Museum Celebrates Cultural Diversity And Legacy Of Artists Of African Diaspora

The museum boasts a collection of more than 450 works from artists including Robert S. Duncanson, Radcliffe Bailey, LeRoy Clarke,  Romare Bearden, Nellie Mae Rowe, David C. Driskell, Hale Woodruff, Jim Alexander and Tina Dunkley.

untitled (mother and daughter) (1841) by Robert S. DuncansonHammonds House Museum

Robert S. Duncanson was a 19th century American artist of African and European ancestry. Renowned for his landscapes, he also painted portraits. This portrait of a mother and daughter is thought to be his oldest painting.

untitled (flower people) (1981/1981) by Nellie Mae RoweHammonds House Museum

Folk artist Nellie Mae Rowe is known for her unique, colorful drawings and paintings. She grew up on her father's sharecropping farm where she showed an early propensity for drawing and crafts.

untitled (fantasy animals) (1982) by Nellie Mae RoweHammonds House Museum

At the age of 48, after the death of her second husband, Nellie Mae Rowe became a full-time artist. She began setting up art in her front yard, inviting visitors to come look as she played gospel tunes on an electric piano.

Humanidad-Humanity (1987) by Arturo LindsayHammonds House Museum

Artist Arturo Lindsay is a cultural investigator whose work is informed by the scholarly research he conducts on African spiritual and aesthetic retentions, rediscoveries and re-inventions in America.

In dat Returnal Day (1997) by Radcliffe BaileyHammonds House Museum

Bailey's mixed media work utilizes layering of imagery, culturally resonant materials, and text to explore themes of ancestry, race, and memory.

Blind Musician (1935) by Hale WoodruffHammonds House Museum

Hale Woodruff created paintings, prints, and murals that depict the historic struggle and perseverance of African Americans. Concerned with the living conditions black people were subjected to in the segregated South during and after the Great Depression, he produced a series of woodcuts on the subject while working for the WPA in Atlanta.

Torso Series (1971/1971) by Hale WoodruffHammonds House Museum

After moving to New York in the late 1940's, Woodruff's style shifted to what he described as "semiabstract, symbolic painting." He continued to paint in an abstract manner for the rest of his life.

untitled (mixed media) (1973/1973) by Windy WilsonHammonds House Museum

The New World (1974/1974) by John T. RiddleHammonds House Museum

Riddle's timeline images depict African people taken as slaves to America, and part of their history in the "new world."

The Formula (1979) by John T. RiddleHammonds House Museum

The Night Before A New Day (1979) by John T. RiddleHammonds House Museum

Art Lafortune (1978) by Felix Pont-SondeHammonds House Museum

Felix (Lafortune) Ponte-Sonde was a Haitian artist who was a farmer, and formerly a voodoo priest. It was said that his artistic inspirations came from his knowledge of the supernatural.

untitled (African warrior) (1992) by LeRoy ClarkeHammonds House Museum

“I paint with an intention for revolution. Every stroke of my painting is a suggestion of destroying the enemies of humanity, particularly African humanity." LeRoy Clarke

De Flower Weeps, Unbruised (1995) by LeRoy ClarkeHammonds House Museum

"I paint for enlightenment, to bring us closer to parting the darkness and opening up the way to our origins." LeRoy Clarke

untitled (1996) by LeRoy ClarkeHammonds House Museum

Clarke insists that his work is obeah, a deliberate evocation of untainted African energy and spirituality, both he claims – erased from modern consciousness.

untitled village landscape (1970) by Andre SaturneHammonds House Museum

untitled (Garden of Eden) (1969) by Alberoi BazileHammonds House Museum

Haitian artist Alberoi Bazile's colorful depiction of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with a bountiful apple tree and coiling snake. Before devoting himself to his art, Bazile was a soldier and a policeman.

untitled (community gathering) (1978) by Petion SavainHammonds House Museum

Pa Yard (1972) by Wilson BigaudHammonds House Museum

Haitian artist Wilson Bigaud first tried sculpture before becoming a muralist and painter. He painted many everyday scenes like this colorful crowd at a cock fight

Sova Nitalistes (Wild Nationalists) (1973) by Prefete DuffautHammonds House Museum

This vibrant painting of roadways with ribbons of people walking from a city to an island is by Haitian artist, Prefete Duffaut.

Come On Girl (1977) by Tina DunkleyHammonds House Museum

Of Caribbean extraction, Dunkley explores the lost narratives of the pan-African journey that have informed much of the history of the Americas.

Farm Couple Picking Cotton (1974) by Jim CyphersHammonds House Museum

Classic landscape painting of rural setting. A wide expansive field depicts a black couple picking cotton. Behind them is a modest wood home and out building.

Santa Maria delle Salute, Venezia (1972) by Donald SowellHammonds House Museum

Sowell's impressionist painting of the Santa Maria delle Salute which in English means Saint Mary of Health. Commonly known as The Salute, this Roman Catholic Church & Basilica is in Venice, Italy.

Head of a Boy (1974) by Donald SowellHammonds House Museum

untitled (tree) (1973) by Freddie StylesHammonds House Museum

A native of Georgia, Freddie Styles is a committed abstractionist, although references to nature have been at the center of his paintings and collages throughout his long career.

untitled abstract with foil (1973) by Freddie StylesHammonds House Museum

Chiefs (1979) by DensuaHammonds House Museum

Tidbits (1977) by Floyd TunsonHammonds House Museum

“I grew up poor and felt I didn’t have a voice. I think as an artist there’s a responsibility beyond painting beautiful pictures...someone has to be a voice for those that don’t one.” Floyd D. Tunson

Pinkie (1977) by Floyd TunsonHammonds House Museum

Tunson’s work is an exploration of American blackness, sometimes forcing us to confront personal prejudice. He's asking us, "what do you see and how does that make you feel?"

untitled watercolor (1979) by DensuaHammonds House Museum

Dizzy Gillespie (1973) by Jim AlexanderHammonds House Museum

Jim Alexander took this photograph of American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and singer, Dizzy Gillespie, performing at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

Duke Ellington (1972) by Jim AlexanderHammonds House Museum

This photograph of American composer, pianist, and jazz band leader, Duke Ellington, was taken by Jim Alexander at the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

I Leave As I Came (1976) by Zachariah Augustus Anderson IIHammonds House Museum

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, when Anderson moved to Atlanta, GA his career took off when his work was shown in the inaugural National Black Arts Festival in 1988.

White Tree (1969) by David C. DriskellHammonds House Museum

David Driskell was an artist, author, and one of the world's leading authorities on African American Art. This colorful aquatint etching on paper reflects his earlier work, inspired by his first trips to the African continent.

Cotillion Ball (1995) by Louis J. DelsarteHammonds House Museum

Delsarte is often called a master of color and movement. While growing up in New York City, he was surrounded by music including jazz, opera, musicals, and blues. His parents were friends with entertainers like Lena Horne, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Mother and Child (1980) by Louis J. DelsarteHammonds House Museum

Mother and Child #2 (1980) by Louis J. DelsarteHammonds House Museum

Portrait of a Seated Woman (1978/1978) by Luce TurnierHammonds House Museum

His Own Doctor (1883) by Thomas Waterman WoodHammonds House Museum

Though Wood studied for a time under a portraitist in Boston and briefly in Paris, he had limited formal training, a remarkable fact given his exceptional technique. Many of his subjects are freed black people, before and after the Civil War.

Three Young Men (1976) by James Milton GreenHammonds House Museum

Little is known about artist James Milton Green. He was prolific in the 1970's and this mixed-media collage is representative of his colorful images of African Americans of the day.

Quiet Morning (1976) by James Milton GreenHammonds House Museum

Cry (ballerina) (1976) by Jenelse Walden HollowayHammonds House Museum

Holloway's artwork is often about the power of the human spirit. She was an arts professor at Spelman College for 38 years; a champion of African American artists and a mother who didn't allow her children to play with coloring books, instead insisting they make their own original art.

Ascending Descending Forms (abstract) (1983) by Richard Howard HuntHammonds House Museum

The Search For Truth (1974) by Gary PorterHammonds House Museum

Traditions In Tact (1981) by Lizzetta LaFalle-CollinsHammonds House Museum

Well-known as a curator and artist, LaFalle-Collins' artwork focuses on collage. She mixes mediums including maps, wrapping paper,drawings and found objects to make statements on memory, family and tradition.

Remembering Rediscovering (1981) by Lizzetta LaFalle-CollinsHammonds House Museum

Points (1982) by Lizzetta LaFalle-CollinsHammonds House Museum

Heritage (1982) by Lizzetta LaFalle-CollinsHammonds House Museum

And they rode the train...Lester (1981) by Lizzetta LaFalle-CollinsHammonds House Museum

Birds Eating (1968) by Sisson BlanchardHammonds House Museum

Haitian artist Sisson Blanchard’s brightly colored paintings feature fish, birds, animals, vegetables and flowers in orderly columns or disorderly groups.

Birds and Trees (1969) by Gesner AbelardHammonds House Museum

Vase of Flowers (1977) by Oliver JacksonHammonds House Museum

untitled (abstract) (1977) by Oliver JacksonHammonds House Museum

This abstract gouache painting in warm coffee colors is by artist Oliver Jackson.

I DO, #5 (1971) by Lev MillsHammonds House Museum

I DO, #4 Lisa (1971) by Lev MillsHammonds House Museum

Artwork based on Lev Mills' book, I DO, a 1971 collaboration with Sierra Leone poet Mukhtarr Mustapha.

Plight (1975) by Benny AndrewsHammonds House Museum

Woman (1972) by Benny AndrewsHammonds House Museum

With just a few strokes of his pen, Andrews has captured the moment.

Pool Shooters (1972) by Benny AndrewsHammonds House Museum

Though the work is economical, Andrews clearly shows the action of a pool game between the two men.

Study of Abundance (1923) by Alan Rohan CriteHammonds House Museum

Glyph #15 (1975) by Sam Gilliam, Jr.Hammonds House Museum

Gilliam is associated with the Washington Color School,a group of Washington, D.C. artists that developed a form of abstract art from color field painting in the 1950s and 1960s. His works have been described as abstract expressionism and lyrical abstraction. He works on stretched, draped and wrapped canvas, and adds sculptural 3D elements.

Send The Message Clearly (1992) by Valerie J. MaynardHammonds House Museum

Valerie Maynard is a sculptor, teacher, printmaker, and designer. The head, being a prominent part in many of her figures, reference the distorted quality of African art work made by the Igbo or Yoruba people.

Credits: Story

Hammonds House Museum is generously supported by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Fulton County Arts & Culture, and the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
Explore more
Related theme
Atlanta: Bold and Beautiful
From hip-hop to fine art, street art to high fashion
View theme
Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites