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Samella Lewis Prints and Multiples

American, b. 1924

Samella Lewis, born 1924 New Orleans, Louisiana, is an artist, educator, scholar, curator, writer, administrator, editor, filmmaker and collector and is renowned for her contributions to African American art and art history.

Lewis studied printmaking with lifelong friends Elizabeth Catlett, Diego Rivera and Jacob Lawrence. She is best known for her figurative works on paper, including many series of lithographs and screen prints that illustrate images representing the age of civil rights and black liberation.

Lewis’s work can be found at national art museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Hampton University Museum.

Find original Samella Lewis prints and other art on 1stDibs.

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Artist: Samella Lewis
The House of Shango — African American artist
By Samella Lewis
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...
Category

1990s Realist Samella Lewis Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

GERTRUDE Hand Drawn Lithograph, Young Black Girl Portrait, Sunflower
By Samella Lewis
Located in Union City, NJ
GERTRUDE by the African American woman artist Samella Lewis, is an original hand drawn lithograph printed using hand lithography techniqu...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Samella Lewis Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

SHOUT Signed Lithograph, Drawing, Black Church, African American Culture
By Samella Lewis
Located in Union City, NJ
SHOUT by the African American woman artist Samella Lewis, is an original hand drawn lithograph printed using hand lithography techniques on archival Rives BFK paper, 100% acid free. ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Samella Lewis Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

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Samella Lewis prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Samella Lewis prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Samella Lewis in lithograph and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Samella Lewis prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 16 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Larry Clark, Bob Gruen, and Carole Feuerman. Samella Lewis prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,800 and tops out at $6,500, while the average work can sell for $6,000.

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