Seated Figure
"Seated Figure" embodies many of the styles and media Charles Alston experimented with during his acclaimed career. An illustrator, muralist, painter, sculptor and educator, Alston was an important contributor to the art of the Harlem Renaissance, and his social activism also informed his artistic practice. While perhaps best known for his figurative works, Alston also championed abstraction. "Seated Figure" showcases Alston's explorations in form and dimensionality, particularly in relation to Cubism and his ability to optimize tonality within a monochromatic palette. The angular forms of the figure in this drawing recall his portrait paintings, and the vertical, architectonic marks also reference his cityscapes and nonrepresentational abstractions.
The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
One of the most important collections of African American visual art dating from the 18th century to the present, the collection includes 62 works from Edward Bannister, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert S. Duncanson, Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence and others. This collection forms the foundation of a multidisciplinary center for the study, understanding and appreciation of African American art and culture. Items from the collection have previously rotated in the Evans Center Gallery and through unique exhibitions such as the 2012 "Life's Link: A Fred Wilson Installation," and the 2017 travelling exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's work.