gwendolyn b bennett paintings

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Jackson died in 1936 and Bennett moved back to New York. !, along with Zora Neale Hurston, John Davis, and Aaron Douglas. Her ballads, odes, sonnets, and protest poetry are notable for their visual imagery that explored themes of racial pride and reflected African motifs. and participating auction houses.

(Photo below is from the anthology “A History of African-American Artists” by Romare Bearden & Harry Henderson.). I started going to auctions to fuel my love for African American art – but at a bargain. This article answers many of my “wonderings” but it also raises many more questions for me. Gwendolyn Bennett, writer and artist, played an active role in the African-American arts Community for over twenty years. All Rights Reserved. After performing her due diligence, she felt confident that the piece was a Bennett painting because of its style, the date and initials on it, the location where the seller acquired the piece, and the information on the back of the painting. She used it to her advantage to network with other poets and to spread the news of the Renaissance. That same year, the couple moved to Eutis, Florida.

Born in Giddings, Texas, she spent her early childhood on a Paiute Indian Reservation in Nevada, where her parents were teachers. Required fields are marked *. © 2020 Kentake Page. Uncovering Our History Through The Relics Left Behind. Bennett was born July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas, to Joshua Robbin Bennett and Mayme F. (Abernethy) Bennett. She and her friend Regina Anderson, a librarian, were said to be among the people to suggest a dinner for Harlem writers that became the impetus for the Harlem Renaissance.

Photo by E.F. Joseph’s Studios, Oakland, CA, 1942. One of Bennett’s good friends, Zora Neale Hurston, was also “lost” in history until Alice Walker highlighted her significant contribution.). Kentake Page, founded by Meserette Kentake, is a Pan-Afrikan Black history blog that celebrates the diversity of the Afrikan historical experience both on the continent and in the diaspora. Writer, artist.

During her studies there, she worked with a variety of mediums, including watercolor, oil, woodcuts, pen and ink, and batik. Bennet used her column, The Ebony Flute, to link to the Harlem culture and social life.

Bennett had a significant contribution after she returned, but unfortunately, most scholars ended their discussion of Bennett at 1928, thus largely contributing to her overlooked status today. and dated in oil, lower right.

Bennett worked for the Consumers Union during the later years of her life.

In 1927, renowned writer Countee Cullen included “To A Dark Girl” in the anthology “Caroling Dusk.” Most of her artwork from that time was destroyed in two house fires, according to Wheeler. Although she never published her own volume of poetry, she was one of the most revered poets of her era, and a major creative force on the Harlem Renaissance. Jerry Langley is an attorney, art collector and art researcher who lives in Annandale VA. ©2020 International Review of African American Art. The seller realized the risk I was taking and we negotiated a price for the painting and shipping. Most of Gwendolyn Bennett’s published work, including two short stories, appeared in 1923–28. After I purchased the painting, I worked even harder to verify the painting: a) verified the G.B.J.

Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia She rarely exhibited or marketed her artwork; some early works were destroyed by a fire in 1926 at her step-mother’s house and Wheeler learned that more works were destroyed — again by fire — at a relative’s home in the 1980s, after Bennett’s death.

She attended Columbia University and Pratt Institute, then studied art in Paris in 1925. Though often overlooked, she herself made considerable accomplishments in a I couldn’t resist commenting. This cool night is strangeAmong midsummer days…Far frosts are caughtIn the moon’s pale light,And sounds are distant laughterChilled to crystal tears. Her artwork was also used for Crisis and Opportunity covers. She came across the painting on an auction site, negotiated a price for it, and hung it in her apartment in Augusta and a home in the Midwest, and in her office at the college. Gwendolyn B. Bennett (July 8, 1902 – May 30, 1981) was an American artist, writer, and journalist who contributed to Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, which chronicled cultural advancements during the Harlem Renaissance. Gwendolyn B. Bennett was an artist, writer, and journalist during the Harlem Renaissance. Bennett was born July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas, to Joshua Robbin Bennett and Mayme F. (Abernethy) Bennett. She was a key figure in the development of the Harlem Renaissance as well as the time period immediately after the Renaissance, but there is still very little that has been written about her.

Bennett, the daughter of teachers, grew up on a Nevada Indian reservation and in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn, N.Y. She attended Columbia University and Pratt Institute, then studied art in Paris (1925–26).

Photo by James.

Gwendolyn Bennett was born on July 8, 1902, in Giddings, Texas, to Joshua and Maime Bennett. Designed by, Ten ‘Black Body’ Quotes from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between…, Ten Thought-Provoking Quotes from “The Mis-Education of the…, Ten Powerful Quotes by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, The best line from the Black Panther Movie, Her name was Redoshi: The last survivor of…, Paul Belloni Du Chaillu: The “African” Zoologist who…, Sarah Baartman: The “first known Black female victim…, Mary Annette Anderson: The first African American woman…, Gwendolyn B. Bennett: The Harlem Renaissance Writer and…, Marie Couvent: A Controversial African-American Philanthropist, Zelda Wynn Valdes: The Creator of the Playboy…, The Gullah Creole Art of Diane Britton Dunham, Jackie Ormes: The first professional African American woman…, Charles Alston: Reclaiming identity through art, Henry Ossawa Tanner: First internationally acclaimed African American…, James Weldon Johnson: Author of “Lift Ev’ry Voice…, Sterling Allen Brown: Harlem Renaissance Poet, The History of Africa: The Quest For Eternal…, Uncovering the African Past: The Ivan Van Sertima…, Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire, In Praise of the Ancestors by Mazisi Kunene, July 9, 1841: Four Black Men executed for a bank robbery. Another reason I decided to sell the painting is that I believe there is more of Bennett’s artwork out there, but people may not know what they actually own. * By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. This is the first known painting by this important Harlem Renaissance artist, poet, educator, columnist and editor to come to auction--and the only painting by Gwendolyn Bennett that we have located. The failed publication is now reportedly regarded in some circles as a key cultural moment of the Harlem Renaissance. Order the current issue, back issues, and subscriptions at the IRAAA online store.

I made note of the price paid for the painting – $3,600 against Swann’s estimated appraisal of $6,000-$9,000. 203x305 mm; 8x12 inches. Gwendolyn Bennett's "Untitled (River Landscape)," 1931.

When she returned to NY in approximately 1932, America was in the grip of the Depression and everything had changed. However, most of her pieces from this period of her life were destroyed during a fire at her stepmother’s home in 1926. “She is clearly a modern, black American whose roots are African,” note the authors, “but her stance and her pensive expression are evocative of Cullen’s question, ‘What is Africa to me’?”. In addition, Bennett was known to have worked regularly with oil paints and photos of the back of the painting revealed a sticker from an art supply store in Washington, D.C. where Bennett had lived or commuted to before moving to Eustis. Although she never published her own volume of poetry, she was one of the most revered poets of her era, and a major creative force on the Harlem Renaissance. For example, three and a half years ago I was at the Emory University archives and I was researching an unprocessed collection of a relatively unknown person who had a connection with some key figures from the Harlem Renaissance. https://aaregistry.org/story/gwendolyn-bennett-was-a-great-poet-and-artist Although I was excited about the potential find, I spent weeks talking with the owner who was selling the item to validate the painting. The painting had the look and feel of the works of some older African American artists in the auction – men from the late 19th century whose subject of choice was the untouched beauty of nature. they don't fit into little This newly discovered painting is the only work by Bennett that can be found. The vision is to bring together history, literature, and art under one cyber-umbrella, to make Black/Afrikan historical, literary, and artistic achievements universally accessible. 1). It was as if artist Gwendolyn Bennett was reaching out to me from the beyond. Gwendolyn’s family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1906 when she was four years old. Her time in Florida had a negative impact on her work as it was too far from Harlem to promptly receive news for her to write about in her column for Opportunity. I really love the piece, but it seemed inappropriate for me to keep it all to myself. GWENDOLYN BENNETT (1902 - 1981) Untitled (River Landscape). Oil on canvas, 1931. Did she do many paintings? She is perhaps best known for her short story "Wedding Day", which was published in the magazine Fire!

Tell me about your decision to sell the artwork. The professor was Belinda Wheeler, a native of Australia now living in the United States, who had written her dissertation on the artist, and was working on a book about Bennett’s life and works. They lived in hiding, along with her stepmother, Marechal Neil, in various places in the East, including Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, New York, where she attended Brooklyn’s Girls’ High from 1918-21. Kentake holds a BSc degree in Counselling Psychology, but her passion has always been Afrikan/Black history.

The authors described Bennett's pen and ink drawing on the July 1926 cover of Opportunity. Bennett was also active on the board of the Negro Playwright’s Guild and involved with the development of the George Washington Carver Community School.

Accept Read More. Who was this poet who also painted, worked as a batik artist, illustrator and community activist? Auction Finds is filled with fascinating stories – from books to photographs to documents to artifacts – on subjects that are as diverse as we are as a country. Initailed "G.B.J." you be rich and continue to help others. At the conclusion of the article, Jerry Langley said his search continued because he had not been able to identify the locations of any original Gwendolyn Bennett paintings: “But I know they're out there somewhere.” That hunch has proven to be correct and Jerry Langley now reports on the discovery of a painting by the artist.