Nancy Lawson
William Matthew Prior
Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North will be on view from November 15, 2023 to March 24, 2024. As a corrective to histories that define slavery and anti-Black racism as a largely Southern issue, this exhibition offers a new window onto Black representation in a region that is often overlooked in narratives of early African American history.
Through 125 remarkable works including paintings, needlework, and photographs, this exhibition invites visitors to focus on figures who appear in—or are omitted from—early American images and will challenge conventional narratives that have minimized early Black histories in the North, revealing the complexities and contradictions of the region’s history between the late 1600s and early 1800s.
A 300-page scholarly book with contributions from Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Jennifer Van Horn, and several authors, will be published to coincide with the exhibition.
The exhibition is co-curated by Emelie Gevalt, Curatorial Chair for Collections and Curator of Folk Art, AFAM; RL Watson, Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies, Lake Forest College; and Sadé Ayorinde, Warren Family Assistant Curator, AFAM.
For more information, please email publicrelations@folkartmuseum.org.
Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional support from Julia F. Alexander, the American Folk Art Society, Monty Blanchard and Leslie Tcheyan, the David Davies and Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions, David and Dixie De Luca, Laurent Delly and Lybra Clemons, Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation, Gail Wright Sirmans, Donna L. Skerrett, Ramondy Thermidor, and Elizabeth and Irwin Warren.
Edward Hicks (1780–1849)
The Residence of David Twining, 1785.
Newtown, Pennsylvania
1846.
Oil on canvas,
In original wood frame with paint and gold leaf, 30 1/2 x 35 7/8 in.
American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2005.8.13
William Matthew Prior (1806-1873)
Nancy Lawson
Boston, Massachusetts
1843
Oil on canvas
30 1/8 x 25 in.
Shelburne Museum, Vermont, USA©
Shelburne Museum/Museum purchase, acquired from Maxim Karolik/Bridgeman Images
William Matthew Prior (1806-1873)
William Lawson
Boston, Massachusetts
1843
Oil on canvas
30 1⁄4 x 25 1⁄4 in.
Shelburne Museum, Vermont, USA©
Shelburne Museum/Museum purchase, acquired from Maxim Karolik/Bridgeman Images
Rufus Hathaway (1770-1822)
A View of Mr. Joshua Winsor’s House
Duxbury, Massachusetts.
c. 1793-1795.
Oil oncanvas, 28 x 32 3/16 x 2 in.
American Folk Art Museum, gift of Ralph Esmerian, 2013.1.19
Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, with additional support from Julia F. Alexander, the American Folk Art Society, Monty Blanchard and Leslie Tcheyan, the David Davies and Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions, David and Dixie De Luca, Laurent Delly and Lybra Clemons, Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation, Gail Wright Sirmans, Donna L. Skerrett, Ramondy Thermidor, and Elizabeth and Irwin Warren.