Ever seen art that stops you in your tracks? That makes you feel something deep inside? Black artists have been producing such works for generations.
They've broken barriers. Told powerful stories. Changed how we see the world.
From the colorful explosion of Harlem Renaissance art to today's groundbreaking creators, these artists have shaped history with their brushes, cameras, and hands.
Let's meet some game-changers.
21 Black Artists You Should Know
- Henry Ossawa Tanner
- Jacob Lawrence
- Romare Bearden
- Aaron Douglas
- Lois Mailou Jones
- Augusta Savage
- Margaret Burroughs
- Elizabeth Catlett
- Gordon Parks
- Marion Perkins
- Charles White
- Faith Ringgold
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
- Sam Gilliam
- Betye Saar
- Alison Saar
- Kehinde Wiley
- Amy Sherald
- Mickalene Thomas
- Toyin Ojih Odutola
- Bisa Butler
Save this list for your next museum trip.
The Trailblazers of African American Art
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Henry Ossawa Tanner did what no one thought possible. He became the first African American artist to gain worldwide fame.
The first African American student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts? That was Tanner. Later he moved to Paris to paint without the constant weight of American racism.
His most famous painting, The Banjo Lesson, shows a grandfather teaching his grandson to play. Simple moment. Profound meaning.
The way Tanner used light? Almost magical. Warm glows that make his subjects feel alive. His use of light along with shades of blue in Marshes in New Jersey (1895) is a prime example of his mastery of the craft.
In 1910, he broke another barrier. The National Academy of Design made him an associate member. He was the first Black artist to receive this honor.
Look for these masterpieces:
- The Banjo Lesson (1893)
- The Thankful Poor (1894)
- Nicodemus Visiting Christ (1899)
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence told stories with color. Bold, vibrant stories that jump off the canvas.
His most famous work? The Migration Series. Sixty paintings that show African American families moving north for better lives. His masterful use of colors complementing brown landscapes has left a lasting legacy.
When the Museum of Modern Art displayed his work, it changed the game for Black artists everywhere.
Lawrence didn't just paint pretty pictures. He documented history. Preserved memories. Started conversations.
As a teacher, he pushed his students to dig deep. To use art to explore who they were and where they came from.
Must-see works:
- The Migration Series (1940–41)
- Toussaint L'Ouverture Series (1937–38)
- War Series (1946–47)
Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden took collage to new heights, using materials that you'd expect to find in DIY home decor. He was able to turn them into fine art. Cut paper, found photos, paint, ink—he mixed it all.
Imagine taking fragments of everyday life and creating something entirely new. That was Bearden's genius.
His collages tell stories of Black communities. Jazz clubs. Family dinners. City streets. Rural life. All captured in vibrant, layered compositions.
Bearden even reimagined Homer's Odyssey with Black characters. Classic story. Fresh perspective.
During the civil rights era, his art became a form of protest. A way to fight for justice without saying a word.
Signature works:
- The Prevalence of Ritual: Baptism (1964)
- The Block (1971)
- Three Folk Musicians (1967)
The Harlem Renaissance Stars
The Harlem Renaissance and its tremendous impact on modern art movements changed everything. African American culture bloomed in music, literature, and art during the 1920s and 30s.
Artists like Aaron Douglas, Lois Mailou Jones, and Augusta Savage led this creative explosion. They didn't just make beautiful things. They made statements.
Their work explored Black identity.
Aaron Douglas
They called Aaron Douglas the "father of Black American art" for good reason. His distinctive style became the visual voice of the Harlem Renaissance.
Spot a Douglas painting instantly by its silhouettes and concentric circles. Blues, purples, and golds that seem to glow from within.
His mural series Aspects of Negro Life tells the story of Black Americans from Africa to the urban North. History lesson and visual feast in one.
Douglas didn't keep his talents to himself. He taught and mentored countless young artists, ensuring his influence would live on for generations.
See these if you can:
- Aspects of Negro Life (1934)
- Building More Stately Mansions (1944)
- Let My People Go (1935)
Lois Mailou Jones
Lois Mailou Jones refused to be boxed in. Her art spanned continents and styles over a career lasting more than 70 years.
Early on, she faced closed doors. Galleries wouldn't show her work when they learned she was African American. So what did she do? Sent friends to deliver her paintings. She won prizes. Made people notice.
Her travels to Africa shaped her later work. Masks, patterns, and symbols appear throughout her vibrant paintings. Her 1938 work Les Fétiches displays a masterful use of black and its complementary colors.
As a professor at Howard University for 47 years, she influenced countless young artists. Talk about leaving a legacy.
Look for these stunners:
- Les Fétiches (1938)
- Mob Victim (1945)
- Ode to Kinshasa (1972)
Augusta Savage
Augusta Savage sculpted with purpose. Born in Florida to a poor family, she shaped clay into power.
When a summer art program rejected her because of her race, she didn't give up. She went on to become one of the most important sculptors of her time.
In Harlem, she opened her studio to young artists. No money for classes? No problem. She taught them anyway.
Her most famous work, The Harp, stood 16 feet tall at the 1939 World's Fair. Inspired by "Lift Every Voice and Sing," often called the Black national anthem. Sadly, it was destroyed after the fair closed. No funds to cast it in bronze or store it.
She sculpted more than figures. She shaped the future of Black art.
Known for:
- The Harp (1939)
- Gamin (1929)
- Realization (1938)
The Chicago Movement
While Harlem buzzed with creativity, Chicago developed its own artistic movement. Artists like Margaret Burroughs, Elizabeth Catlett, Gordon Parks, Marion Perkins, and Charles White made the Windy City a center for African American art.
They created work that spoke to the Black experience in America. Raw. Honest. Powerful.
Margaret Burroughs
Margaret Burroughs didn't just make art. She made space for it.
In 1961, she turned her home into a museum. The DuSable Museum of African American History—the first of its kind in the United States. Started in her living room. Now it holds over 15,000 pieces.
Her prints—in a similar style to the linocut prints found in botanical art—and paintings tell stories of heritage and identity. Simple, strong images that speak volumes.
As a poet, teacher, and activist, she asked hard questions. Her poem "What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black?" still resonates today.
Remember her by:
- Black Venus (c. 1957)
- The Faces of My People (c. 1990)
- What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black? (1968)
Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett carved truth from wood and stone. Her sculptures celebrate Black womanhood in all its strength and complexity. She was also Mexican-American, and she was equally influential to Mexican art.
First woman to earn a sculpture master's degree from Iowa? That was Catlett. Breaking barriers came naturally to her.
Her print Sharecropper shows a Black woman's weathered face. Simple lines. Profound dignity. You can feel the sun and soil in her expression.
Catlett knew art could change minds. She spent much of her life in Mexico, creating work that connected the struggles of African American and Mexican laborers.
Beautiful things with purpose. That was her way.
Seek out these works:
- Sharecropper (1952)
- Mother and Child (1956)
- Homage to My Young Black Sisters (1968)
Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks spoke truth through a camera lens. Self-taught photographer who became the first African American staff photographer at Life magazine.
His photos tell stories words can't capture. Dignity amid poverty. Strength facing oppression. Joy despite hardship.
That famous photo of a Black cleaning woman standing with a mop in front of an American flag? That was Parks. American Gothic, Washington, D.C. Simple composition. Powerful statement.
Not content with just photography, he became the first African American director to make a major Hollywood film. The Learning Tree, based on his own life. Later came Shaft, which helped define a new era in Black cinema.
One man. Multiple art forms. Countless barriers broken.
Images that changed America:
- American Gothic, Washington, D.C. (1942)
- Emerging Man (1952)
- Malcolm X (1963)
Marion Perkins
Marion Perkins created beauty from what others discarded. Self-taught sculptor who often worked with salvaged stone.
By day, he ran a newsstand. By night, he carved masterpieces. No formal training. Just raw talent and determination.
His sculpture Man of Sorrows shows Christ with distinctly African features. Won a major prize at the Art Institute of Chicago. Put him on the map.
Perkins didn't separate art from community. Active in Chicago's South Side Community Art Center, he helped create a space where Black artists could thrive.
Gone too soon at 52. But his work lives on.
Look for these pieces:
- Man of Sorrows (1950)
- Skywatcher (c. 1948)
- Mask of Eva (c. 1935)
Charles White
Charles White believed art should serve people. His detailed drawings and paintings show African Americans with unmistakable dignity.
Growing up in Chicago's South Side, he witnessed poverty and discrimination firsthand. These experiences shaped his artistic mission—to create positive images of Black people when such images were rare.
His technical skill? Off the charts. His figures seem to breathe on the page. But his technique was always in service to his art’s message.
During the civil rights movement, his art spoke volumes. Large-scale works that couldn't be ignored. Statements in charcoal and ink.
Career-defining works:
- The Contribution of the Negro to Democracy in America (1943)
- Hope for the Future (1945)
- I Have a Dream (1976)
Civil Rights Era Giants
The struggle for civil rights brought forth powerful new artistic voices. Faith Ringgold, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sam Gilliam, and the mother-daughter duo Betye and Alison Saar created work that challenged, provoked, and inspired.
Art wasn't just art anymore. It was a weapon in the fight for justice. A tool for change.
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold turned quilts into canvases. Her story quilts blend painting, fabric, and storytelling in ways never seen before.
When museums wouldn't show her work, she found her own path. Created soft sculptures, masks, and finally her signature story quilts.
Her most famous work, Tar Beach, shows a girl dreaming on a rooftop in Harlem. Flying over the city. Freedom in imagination when reality set limits.
In 1972, she broke through. First solo exhibition by a Black woman at the Whitney Museum.
Must-see quilts:
- Tar Beach (1988)
- Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima? (1983)
- American People Series #20: Die (1967)
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat exploded onto the art scene like a comet. Burned bright. Left too soon.
Started as a graffiti artist tagging New York walls as SAMO. Ended up selling paintings for tens of thousands in just a few years.
His style? Raw. Electric. Words and images colliding on canvas, often featuring blues and yellows. Crowns and skulls. Heroes and monsters.
Basquiat's art addressed racism, power structures, and identity. Complex themes in seemingly simple forms.
His friendship with Andy Warhol pushed both artists in new directions. Two different worlds colliding.
Died at just 27. But his influence gets stronger every year. In 2017, one of his paintings sold for $110.5 million. Highest price ever for an American artist at auction.
Revolutionary works:
- Untitled (Skull) (1982)
- Hollywood Africans (1983)
- Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (1982)
Sam Gilliam
Sam Gilliam took painting off the wall. Literally.
In the late 1960s, he started creating "drape paintings"—canvas soaked in colors and hung like curtains. No stretchers. No frames. Pure liberation.
Each installation unique. Never the same twice. Breaking every rule of what painting should be.
As the civil rights movement gained momentum, Gilliam found his own path to artistic freedom. Not through direct imagery, but through radical reinvention of form itself.
His vibrant colors and innovative approach influenced generations of artists who came after.
Groundbreaking works:
- Carousel Form II (1969)
- Light Depth (1969)
- Blue (1970)
Betye and Alison Saar
Betye Saar and her daughter Alison turned everyday objects into powerful art. Family legacy of creativity spanning generations.
Betye's breakthrough came with The Liberation of Aunt Jemima in 1972.
Found objects. Memory jugs. Old photographs. Anything could become art in her hands. Items carrying painful histories transformed into statements of power.
Alison followed her own path while exploring similar themes. Her sculptures often feature female figures cast in materials like wood, tin, and bronze. Strong. Rooted. Resilient.
Mother and daughter. Different approaches. Shared commitment to telling forgotten stories.
Powerful works by Betye:
- The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972)
- Black Girl's Window (1969)
- I'll Bend, But I Will Not Break (1998)
Alison's must-sees:
- Sapphire (1985)
- Topsy and the Golden Fleece (2018)
- Weight (2012)
Today's Visionaries
A new generation of Black artists is making waves right now. Kehinde Wiley, Amy Sherald, Mickalene Thomas, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Bisa Butler create work that confronts, questions, and celebrates.
Their art tackles identity, history, and politics in fresh ways. Traditional techniques meet contemporary vision.
These artists aren't waiting for history to recognize them. They're making it.
Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley flips the script on old master paintings. Replaces white aristocrats with young Black men and women in powerful poses.
Spotted his Obama portrait yet? Bold flowers. Vibrant greens. The first Black president is portrayed with dignity and subtle symbolism.
Wiley's paintings are massive. Detailed. Impossible to ignore. His subjects glow against ornate backgrounds, often inspired by luxurious fabric patterns.
By placing Black figures in traditionally white spaces, he questions who deserves to be immortalized in art. Who gets to be seen as powerful.
Signature works:
- Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps (2005)
- Portrait of Barack Obama (2018)
- Equestrian Portrait of Prince Tommaso of Savoy-Carignan (2015)
Amy Sherald
Amy Sherald paints people in greyscale against colorful backgrounds. Skin tones in shades of grey. Clothing bold and vibrant to round out her color schemes.
Her portrait of Michelle Obama changed the game. Seated figure against pale blue. Simple. Powerful. Unlike any first lady portrait before it.
By removing realistic skin color, Sherald shifts focus from race to humanity. Makes you see her subjects differently.
Her figures look directly at viewers. Eye contact that says, "See me as I am."
When her painting The Bathers sold for $4.2 million in 2020, it marked a turning point.
Keep an eye out for:
- First Lady Michelle Obama (2018)
- She Had an Inside and an Outside Now, and Suddenly She Knew How Not to Mix Them (2018)
- What's Precious Inside of Him Does Not Care to Be Known by the Mind in Ways That Diminish Its Presence (All American) (2017)
Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas creates art that sparkles. Literally. Rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel combine in her vibrant portraits.
Thomas often references art history while flipping its script. Her piece Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires reimagines Manet's famous painting with three Black women in 1970s-inspired clothing.
Growing up with a fashion model mother influenced her aesthetic. Pattern. Texture. Bold color combinations that demand attention.
Dazzling works:
- Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires (2010)
- Clarivel with Black Blouse and White Ribbon (2016)
- Portrait of Mnonja (2010)
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Toyin Ojih Odutola creates drawings so detailed they seem impossible. Layers upon layers of marks that create rich, textured skin.
Born in Nigeria and raised in Alabama, her work explores multiple identities and what it means to exist between cultures.
Her series often follow fictional narratives. Imaginary history rendered in exquisite detail.
Using simple materials—pen, pencil, charcoal—she creates works of astounding complexity. Skin becomes landscape. Identity becomes layered territory.
Look closely at:
- A Countervailing Theory (2021)
- The Treatment (2016)
- To Wander Determined (2017)
Bisa Butler
Bisa Butler quilts portraits that pulse with life and color. Fabric art that belongs in major museums—and now is.
A former high school art teacher, she found her voice making quilted portraits of African American subjects from historical photographs. Breathtaking detail. Vibrant hues of fuchsia and magenta pop.
Each piece takes months to create. Thousands of fabric pieces. Countless stitches.
Butler chooses fabrics with purpose. Kente cloth and Dutch wax prints connect her subjects to their African heritage. Every color and pattern adds meaning.
Her work honors overlooked histories and celebrates Black excellence across generations.
Textile masterpieces:
- The Safety Patrol (2018)
- The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake (2020)
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (2019)
Why This Matters
Black artists have shaped American art in ways we're still discovering. They've created beauty while fighting for justice. Told truths when others looked away.
Today, their work appears in major museums and inspires wall art in homes. Sells for record prices. Gets the recognition long deserved.
But the real power isn't in market value. It's in voices heard. Stories told. Perspectives shared.
By learning about these artists, you connect with American history in its fullest form. The struggles. The triumphs. The ongoing journey.
Next time you visit a museum, look for these names. Better yet, seek them out. Their work will move you, challenge you, and show you the world through different eyes.
