For those of you who appreciate African-American art in particular (and American fine art in general), there is an exhibit currently touring the country called the Art of the Masters: A Survey of African-American Images, 1980-2000.
The traveling exhibit, brought to you by the National Conference of Artists (see picture below), started in the city of New York and will now make its way to Fayetteville, NC. For those of you who’d like to attend the exhibit, it will be at the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County from January 22 until March 3, 2010. The Friends of African and African-American Art program deserve credit for funding the North Carolina leg of this tour. (Visit the FAAA program page to learn more about it and to join.)
National Conference of Artists logo
This blogger is based in the Tarheel State, and, personally, it’s nice to see that the NCA chose a city in this state as its only stop in the southeast. Speaking with a certain bias, I think that decision is only fair, since many acclaimed Afro-American artists have hailed from this state – artists that include John Biggers, Ernie Davis, and Romare Bearden.
As a matter of fact, we at the day after have a special appreciation for the latter black artist, who is one of the masters whose works are featured in the exhibit. That is why we stock the 2010 Romare Bearden Wall Calendar which depict several of his prized pieces (the names of which you can read in the calendar’s product description). One of his paintings is also included in the appropriately-titled 2010 African American Masters Wall Calendar. Naturally, we think these calendars are keep-sakes for any connoisseur of fine black art. To see even bigger and better renditions of his works , head on over to the Romare Bearden page at negroartist.com.
Fred Romare Harry Bearden, 1911-1988
Keeping it in North Carolina (Did I mention that I was a state resident with an affinity for local ethnic artists? 
), I’d also like to bring up the native-born Biggers, another feature artist in the Art of the Masters exhibit. He is one of twelve black painters and collagists whose masterpieces appear in the 2010 African American Art Wall Calendar. You can read off the names of the other artists represented in the calendar. To say that those other artists (which, as you can see, includes someone by the name of Romare Bearden) are/were “half-way decent” would be an understatement…
Dr. John Biggers, 1924 - 2001
If you’re yearning to see some of John Biggers’ best African-American paintings in somewhat-limited glory (because no web browser can do any of them justice), I once again advise you to visit negroartist.com.
