A Life on Paper: The Drawings and Lithographs of John Thomas BiggersJohn Thomas Biggers (1924-2001) was a major African American artist who inspired countless others through his teaching, murals, paintings, and drawings. After receiving conventional art training at Hampton Institute and Pennsylvania State, he had his personal and artistic breakthrough in 1957 when he spent six months in the newly independent country of Ghana. From this time forward, he integrated African abstract elements with his rural Southern images to create a personal iconography. His new approach made him famous, as his personal discovery of African heritage fit in well with the growing U.S. civil rights movement. He is best known for his murals at Hampton University, Winston-Salem University, and Texas Southern, but the drawings and lithographs that lie behind the murals have received scant attention--until now. Theisen interviewed Dr. Biggers during the last thirteen years of his life, and was welcomed into his studio innumerable times. Together, they selected representative works for this volume, some of which have not been previously published for a general audience. After his death in 2001, his widow continued to work closely with Theisen, resulting in a book that is intimate and informative for both the scholar and the student |
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Adair African sculpture Ananse art department art education Art in Houston Art of John ascension August 20 Aunt Dicy balaphon began Biggers described Biggers's Black Art Blue Triangle YWCA Brewer campus Center color Conté crayon conversation with author Cora Biggers crayon on paper crosshatching depict developed Dog Ghosts Family Ark Family Unity figure Ghana Hampton University haptic Harriet Tubman Harvesters Hazel Biggers Holy Family Ibid images Joe Mack John and Hazel John Biggers John Biggers's Journeys John Thomas Biggers Lincoln Academy lithograph maame matriarchal metaphoric Michael Rosenfeld Michael Rosenfeld Gallery Morris County mother mural mural drawing muralist Murals of John Museum of Art November 21 painting Paul Biggers pencil drawing Pencil on paper Penn Preparatory drawing Rebirth segregation shotgun houses Simms sketch stories studio symbols Texas Press Texas Southern University Theisen Uncle Aaron University of Texas Upper Room Viktor Lowenfeld visual Weems women young