Exhibition of work by Negro artists

This early 1930s exhibition catalog of the Harmon Foundation includes the works of Richmond Barthé, Beauford Delaney, Archibald J. Motley, Suzanna Ogunjami, James Porter, Elizabeth Prophet, and Laura Wheeler Waring. The catalog contains a checklist of 107 works as well as notes on one hundred and twenty-five African American artists shown in Harmon Foundation exhibitions. This important catalog also includes essays by Alain Locke and Howard Giles, and a list of 1933 award winners and Prize winners from 1926-1930.

The Harmon Foundation was established in 1921 by real-estate developer and philanthropist William E. Harmon. The Foundation offered awards in various fields including literature, music, science, and innovation and the fine arts. Through its closing in 1967, the Foundation famously supported and acknowledged African American artists in America and abroad through awards, prizes and exhibitions and is well-known for the impact it had on African American art of the Harlem Renaissance. The Foundation’s annual Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists, created by director Mary Brady, was held from 1927-1931 and in 1933 and 1935. The exhibitions would travel, gaining the artists exposure and the opportunity to show and sell their work. The Foundation received criticism in the 1930s for perpetuating racial segregation due to its having mostly white juries. It later changed focus from awards to developing other supportive initiatives for African American artists.