Forever Free: Art by African-American Women. 1862-1980
Alexandria, VA: Stephenson, Incorporated, 1980. 1st Edition. Quarto, publisher's navy cloth, spine and upper board gilt, original illustrated dust jacket.
Monograph published in conjunction with a landmark traveling exhibition showcasing Black women’s art, organized by the Center for Visual Arts Gallery at Illinois State University in 1981, signed by Harlem-born artist Faith Ringgold. Edited by Arna Alexander Bontemps (grandson of the Harlem Renaissance poet Arna Wendell Bontemps), and co-curated by Jacqueline Fonvielle-Bontemps (the poet’s granddaughter) and artist David C. Driskell, the exhibit and catalog presents over one-hundred works by forty-nine artists, spanning the period from the Civil War to 1980, including Ringgold, Edmonia Lewis, Elizabeth Catlett, Betye Saar, Lois Mailou Jones, Camille Billops, Selma Burke, Vivian E. Browne, Augusta Savage, and Barbara Zuber. Best known for her narrative quilts that sparked the story quilt revival in the 1970s, Ringgold worked across mediums throughout her career, including painting, sculpture, and performance. Illustrated with color and black-and-white plates; with an exhibition checklist, index, and artists chronologies and bibliographies. Signed by Ringgold and dated 3/28/93 to verso of title page. Minor rubbing to spine-ends, faint embrowning to endpapers from binder's glue; unclipped dust jacket with light rubbing to spine-ends and minor soiling. Near fine. Item #12093
$400.00