Painter Edward Mitchell Bannister found much of the inspiration for his paintings in the seascapes and landscapes of New England. He maintained a keen interest in the French Barbizon School and in the work of artist Jean-François Millet. Accordingly, Bannister was known for using a tonalism style (which emphasizes mood and shadow) in the rendering of his pastoral scenes. His technique often involved building up the surface of his works through heavy, dense brush strokes in what was often deemed Impressionist style painting.

In 1885, Nelson A. Primus moved from Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked and studied portrait painting, to San Francisco, California, where he lived in the city's predominantly Chinese community. "Fortune Teller," a work for which he is now well known, is an example of his realistic portrayal of life in Chinatown during the end of the 19th century. In this work, with deft painterly skill, Primus depicts a red-robed fortune teller smoking a pipe at a makeshift desk of papers.

Sargent Claude Johnson's hammered copper masks retain the strong influence of African art and draw on the ideas of philosopher Alain Locke's concept that mandated black artists use indigenous African art as an aesthetic model. "#2 Mask" is an example of a highly abstracted mask designed in the relative oval shape of a face while maintaining a highly flattened front surface. Linear striations pressed into the surface of the copper run vertically down the front of the face with two areas punctured in proximity of where eyes would be located.

Considered one of the best still-life painters of the late 19th century, Charles Ethan Porter found much of his inspiration in the varied natural landscapes of his home state of Connecticut. Relying on the use of rich colors and active, delicate brushwork as well as giving strong attention to detail, Porter's works conveyed a quiet vibrancy of the natural world around him.

A self-taught painter from Louisiana, Clementine Hunter is known for her colorful and straightforward scenes culled from her memories of life on a Southern plantation. Having worked primarily in the cotton fields and then as a domestic servant, her compositions include scenes of outdoor activity and still lifes of everyday objects.

Considered one of the best still-life painters of the late 19th century, Charles Ethan Porter found much of his inspiration in the varied natural landscapes of his home state of Connecticut. Relying on the use of rich colors and active, delicate brushwork as well as giving strong attention to detail, Porter's works conveyed a quiet vibrancy of the natural world around him.

A self-taught painter from Louisiana, Clementine Hunter is known for her colorful and straightforward scenes culled from her memories of life on a Southern plantation. Having worked primarily in the cotton fields and then as a domestic servant, her compositions include scenes of outdoor activity and still lifes of everyday objects.

American painter Jacob Lawrence is best known for depicting narratives of the daily lives and activities of Harlem in his imagery. Lawrence moved to Harlem at the age of 13; it was there that he witnessed the poverty and prejudice most African Americans faced in the early 20th century. However, it was also where he was exposed to the cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Subsequently, the vibrant energy of this movement radiates from the canvases created by Lawrence.

Marion Perkins was one of Chicago's foremost Renaissance sculptors and was known for his compact and expressive carved stone heads and figures. Using stone from derelict city buildings, Perkins transformed his rough found materials into realist forms skillfully carved in a manner similar to European modernist sculptors and believed the style befit the African American themes he chose to represent. "Figure Sitting," with its evenly polished surface and compressed form, is an early work predating a more mature style the artist developed in the 1940s and '50s.

Richard Hunt is an acclaimed and prolific sculptor best known for his commissioned public sculptures found in numerous American cities. His work embodies classical ideals and traditions in a unique style of abstraction that combines both industrial and organic elements.