African Modernism and Visions of Africa

This auction is made up of two parts: the first section consists of African modernist art from the personal collection of Helen Elaine Jackson.  Works by African artists from several countries are represented but the core of the collection comes from black South African artists, and specifically artists who participated in The South African Exhibit, Voices from Exile (1986), produced by Helen Jackson and shown at her gallery, Capitol East Graphics, in Washington DC.  

It was the goal of Helen Jackson to provide an opportunity for these artists to exhibit in the United States and create an introduction to the work of these talented artists to collectors of African American art here in the States.  Helen regularly exhibited the work of artists such as Ed Clark, Norma Morgan, Herbert Gentry, Vincent Smith, James Wells, Alonzo Davis, and Earl Miller at Capitol East Graphics.  The South African artists included in Voices from Exile had been forced to live outside their homeland due to the limitations placed on their creative professional expressions by the apartheid system.

Black Art Auction, solely dedicated to the sale of African American art, will be making this one important exception to mirror—and to honor-- Helen Jackson’s agenda from years ago.  In 2022, we had the wonderful opportunity to bring to auction Helen’s personal collection of African American art.

This catalog presents the work by African artists included in the collection of Helen Jackson, along with detailed information about the artists (if available).

The second part of the auction includes works by African American artists with the specific subject matter of African themes or scenes.  A current museum exhibit, African Modernism in America, originating from Fisk University Galleries, in partnership with the American Federation of Arts, illustrates the reciprocity of art and culture between America and decolonized African nations.  

African Modernism in America - American Federation of Arts

The exhibit includes works by African modernist artists as well as African American artists.  The show focuses on the origin of this international dynamic: the influence of African themes in the work of African American artists as well as the effect of the exposure to an American audience on the work of African artists.

The Harmon Foundation, well known for its role in supporting African American artists, began incorporating African modern art into its program in the late 1940s.  Alain Locke, in his treatise concerning the New Negro Movement stressed the importance of the inclusion of African themes in contemporary black art, and at Fisk University, Aaron Douglas and David Driskell deepened the engagement of the program studies in Africa and African art.  This artistic and cultural connection remains as evident in African American art today as ever.  

The second part also features several works by John Rozelle, an American artist, whose creative energy was especially devoted to bringing awareness to the brutality and oppression of apartheid in South Africa.  The selection of work illustrates the shared concerns and experiences of people of different nations.