February 4 - August 3 2025
Hunter Museum of American Art - Chattanooga, TN
September 26 , 2025 - January 12, 2026
Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection uplifts the legacy of artists of African descent spanning the twentieth century through the contemporary moment who were overlooked by mainstream art museums.
Adelson Galleries is thrilled to announce the upcoming solo exhibition Black Ties, featuring the work of Robert Freeman.
Black Ties marks Freeman’s first solo exhibition at our New York gallery, following two shows at our former Boston location. The exhibition will run from October 24 to December 6, 2024.
Adelson Galleries New York
The Fuller Building
595 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 439-6800
Robert Freeman, Party Lines, 2016, Oil on canvas, 56 x 42 inches
Robert Freeman is celebrated for his oil paintings depicting the jubilant social lives of the Black diaspora middle class. His gestural brush strokes, bold use of color, and layered paint application create vibrant scenes that toe the line between figurative and abstract. These dynamic compositions reflect the artist’s internal conflicts with the role of race in America and Black culture. They explore the distinctions of his experience as a child in Ghana and as an adult navigating the complex social dynamics within the African American community. Freeman employs a literary approach to painting, allowing the characters in each work to reveal their personalities to him and develop a narrative of their own.
Robert Freeman was born in New York City in 1946 and lived on the East Coast until 1955 when his father relocated the family to the Gold Coast of West Africa. Freeman's father worked for Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary and politician who led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957, becoming Ghana's first Prime Minister and President. In Ghana, Freeman grew up seeing Black faces like his own in positions of power, on monuments, and on the new country's currency. This experience fueled a feeling of empowerment in the artist, which he had not felt in America. Freeman spent his formative years between Ghana and Washington D.C., where he graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1965. Freeman recalls his impulse to put pen to paper at a very early age, scribbling free-flowing lines until the entire page was black. His desire to create led him to study under the influential artist Loïs Mailou Jones at Howard University for two years before transferring to Boston University in 1967. Freeman earned a BFA in 1971 and an MFA in 1981 from Boston University, where he had the opportunity to train with renowned artists Reed Kay, Richard Yarde, James Weeks, and John Wilson.
During that time, Freeman studied under Philip Guston. Similar to Guston, Freeman emphasizes shape, color, and movement over technical precision to create a sense of completeness, utilizing thick and heavy brushstrokes that foster a connection with the subject. According to Freeman, “I never explored my personal subject matter until I started graduate school with Philip Guston. He gave me the opportunity to explore what was in my heart and my mind in ways that I had never done before, and it just opened up a world.” After his education, Freeman taught art at several institutions, including Harvard University, where he lectured from 1986-1992.
Despite his impressive resume and unwavering commitment to his practice, Freeman struggled to make headway in the commercial art world during the ‘70s and into the ‘80s as a Black artist. Freeman remembers carrying his canvases from gallery to gallery, only to be told that there was no demand or clientele interested in paintings of this ‘subject matter.’ By 1982, he caught his first break with an exhibition at Chapel Gallery in Newton, MA. The show was comprised of a new series that he called the Social Season, which explored the social lives of middle-class African Americans: a subject that was deeply personal and reflected his sense of alienation within his own community. The show made the front page of the arts section of the Boston Globe and precipitated the sale of his monumental painting “Black Tie” (1981), which was later donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by the Flather family. Currently, “Black Tie” is on loan: displayed in Governor Maura Healey’s office in the Massachusetts State House.
Robert Freeman’s paintings have continued to be exhibited nationally for over 40 years and included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston Public Library, Brown University, and DeCordova Museum. His paintings have been featured in exhibitions at Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Williams College Museum of Art. Freeman has explored a variety of themes and subject matter throughout his career, including European and regional landscapes, Mardi Gras Indians, American Regatta, and most recently, America’s Past-Time: observations of our country’s current racial divides. Since 1981, Freeman has periodically and compulsively returned to the Social Season series, a subject that continued to resonate and evolve throughout the course of his life.
The compositions of paintings in the Social Season series are intricately layered, showcasing a vibrant interplay of figures that capture the essence of social interaction. The figures are rendered in varying degrees of abstraction, some with more defined features and others with just enough detail to suggest their presence. This blend of abstraction and figuration invites viewers to engage with the paintings on multiple levels, appreciating both the individual characters and the collective atmosphere they create. Freeman's choice to blur the boundaries between the figures and the background adds to the paintings’ dynamic quality. The figures seem to emerge from and recede into the abstract background, symbolizing the fluidity of social interactions and the interconnectedness of the individuals within the scene. Each invite viewers to experience the vibrancy and complexity of the social lives of the Black middle class in America, a community to which the artist belongs yet from which he feels a sense of separation.
Adelson Galleries has represented Robert Freeman since 2016, hosting two exhibitions at our prior Boston location. This exhibition marks our first solo exhibition of Freeman’s work in our New York gallery. The collection of 15 paintings was created over the past eight years and is a continuation of the Social Season series. The paintings explore and celebrate the beauty, elegance, and grace of the Black community. Freeman’s persistence with this subject matter throughout his career demonstrates how deeply personal these paintings are to his identity. More broadly, the theme can be applied to any individual in their quest for a sense of belonging. We hope these paintings will resonate with all who visit the exhibition.
William H. Johnson (1901–1970) painted his last body of work, the “Fighters for Freedom” series, in the mid-1940s as a tribute to African American activists, scientists, teachers and performers as well as international leaders working to bring peace to the world. The landmark exhibition “Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice,” brings together—for the first time since 1946—34 paintings featured in the series, including 32 drawn from the museum’s collection of more than 1,000 works by Johnson.
Two paintings, “Three Great Freedom Fighters” and “Against the Odds,” are on loan from the Hampton University Museum of Art exclusively for the presentation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The exhibition illuminates the extraordinary life and contributions of Johnson, an artist associated with the Harlem Renaissance but whose practice spanned several continents, as well as the contributions of historical figures he depicted.
“Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” is on view from March 8 through Sept. 8 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s main building in Washington, D.C. It is organized by Virginia Mecklenburg, senior curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Laura Augustin Fox, curatorial collections coordinator.
Examples of three paintings from William H. Johnson's Fighters for Freedom series (left to right): Three Great Abolitionists: A. Lincoln, F. Douglass, J. Brown (ca. 1945), Crispus Attucks (ca. 1945), and Harriet Tubman (ca. 1945).“
By telling the stories of those who fought for social and racial justice, both historically and in his own time, the remarkable artist William H. Johnson should be more widely known and this exhibition aims to do that by reaffirming the central importance of African Americans to the American narrative,” said Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director. “It is an awesome and humbling responsibility to build on more than 50 years of the Smithsonian American Art Museum of preserving, displaying and interpreting a lifetime of work by this great American artist whose bold graphic images are not soon forgotten.”
William H. Johnson, Marian Anderson, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, 35 5⁄8 x 28 7⁄8 in. (90.4 x 73.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.657
Some of Johnson’s “Fighters”—Marian Anderson, George Washington Carver, Mohandas Gandhi and Harriet Tubman—are familiar figures; others—Nannie Helen Burroughs and William Grant Still, among them—are less well-known individuals whose achievements have been eclipsed over time. Johnson celebrates their accomplishments even as he acknowledges the realities of racism, oppression and sometimes violence they faced and overcame. Johnson clues viewers to significant episodes in the “Fighters” lives by punctuating each portrait with tiny buildings, flags and vignettes that give insight into their stories. Using a colorful palette to create evocative scenes and craft important narratives, he suggests that the pursuit of freedom is an ongoing, interconnected struggle, with moments of both triumph and tragedy. These paintings invite the viewer to reflect on the struggles for justice today.
“Through Johnson’s ‘Fighters for Freedom’ paintings, we learn about people who changed lives, promoted equality, valued legacy and demonstrated unflagging determination in the face of almost insurmountable challenges,” Mecklenburg said. “He tells us that the continued fight for equity, dignity and equality for all is central to the American story.”
The museum has created extensive educational materials and in-gallery interpretation strategies to deepen visitors’ understanding of Johnson and the featured historical figures. A visual timeline puts Johnson’s life events in context with key moments in African American history and the lives of his “Fighters.”
The museum has produced short videos to accompany five paintings on view, each featuring commentary from curators from across the Smithsonian discussing collection objects, including Nat Turner’s Bible and Marian Anderson’s fur coat, that give insight into the people depicted in each work. Four interactive in-gallery kiosks provide information about Johnson’s visual references and historical source material that “decode” selected compositions and uncover the meaning behind the imagery. A separate media space invites visitors to experience select “Fighters” in action through archival video, audio and images. The museum’s efforts to conserve Johnson’s artworks are documented in a short video and wall panels, highlighting the recent preservation work of the “Fighters for Freedom” paintings. Additional elements include tactile reproductions and visual descriptions of key works; an all ages reading room that offers visitors a chance to gather, learn and reflect; and a mural featuring responses from students across the country about people they consider fighters for freedom today.
Johnson was born in Florence, South Carolina, in 1901, but left the Jim Crow South as a teenager to go to New York City. In 1921, he passed the entrance exam at the National Academy of Design. By the time he finished five years later, he had won most of the prizes the academy offered. Johnson left for Europe, where he painted landscapes that marked him as an up-and-coming modernist. After three years in France, Johnson returned to the United States in 1929, meeting Harlem Renaissance luminaries Alain Locke and Langston Hughes during that time. He left again for Europe after less than a year. He married Danish weaver Holcha Krake in 1930, and they spent most of the decade in Scandinavia, where Johnson's interest in European modernism had a noticeable impact on his work.
In late 1938, with World War II imminent, the couple returned to New York, where he was soon recognized as a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson abandoned the dazzling landscapes he painted in Scandinavia to focus instead on the lives of African Americans. He painted Southern sharecroppers, city hipsters, Black soldiers training for war, religious scenes and his last series, “the Fighters for Freedom.” It was a trying time in Johnson’s personal life. His wife developed breast cancer, and after she died in 1944, Johnson’s mental health deteriorated. In 1947, he was confined to Central Islip State Hospital in New York, where he remained until his death in 1970.
In 1967, the William E. Harmon Foundation, the patron of African American artists that cared for Johnson’s work after his hospitalization, entrusted his life’s work—paintings, watercolors, prints and drawings—to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The museum, in turn, offered almost 150 paintings and prints to other institutions. As a result, historically Black universities, including Fisk, Hampton, Howard, Morgan State and others, have rich collections of Johnson’s work. The Smithsonian American Art Museum holds the largest and most complete collection of work by Johnson. It has done much in the past 50 years to preserve Johnson’s art and establish his reputation by organizing exhibitions and installations of his work and an ongoing program of conservation for these fragile paintings. Most recently, the museum has loaned six works by Johnson to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s groundbreaking exhibition “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism” (2024).
A beautifully illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition, co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with Scala Arts Publishers Inc. It is written by Mecklenburg, with an introduction by Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, a foreword by Stebich and contributions by Tiffany D. Farrell and Emily H. Rohan. It is available for purchase ($34.95, softcover) in the museum store and online.
Swann Galleries spring 2024 African American Art sale will take place on Thursday, April 4, with a standout selection of house favorites from Hughie Lee-Smith, Jacob Lawrence and more, and features a special evening session to benefit the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.
The sale is led by a significant, mid-career oil painting by the great Hughie Lee-Smith—his Ball Player, 1970, a powerful painting, that epitomizes the artist’s evocative depictions of African American youth in desolate urban settings. Ball Player has been widely exhibited and was in the personal collection of the artist before being acquired by the current owners. The work is expected at $150,000 to $250,000.
Also on offer by Lee-Smith is Bather, oil on board, 1954 ($75,000-100,000), and Untitled (Study of a Woman in a Landscape), oil and pencil on canvas, 1991 ($30,000-40,000).
Lee-Smith’s figurative work is offered alongside
Kermit Oliver’s Hay Rolls, acrylic on board, 1983 ($100,000-150,000), a significant mid-career by this important Texas artist. Further works of note include a vibrant scene of a carousel from 1953 by Philadelphia artist Paul F. Keene, Jr. ($30,000-40,000), Benny Andrews’s Time for Church, oil with painted canvas, lace collage and staples on canvas, 1999 ($50,000-75,000), and Charles L. Sallée Jr.’s Swingtime, oil on canvas, 1985 ($20,000-30,000).
The house is excited to bring to auction—for the first time since 2008—a complete set of Jacob Lawrence’s masterwork in printmaking, The Legend of John Brown. With this 1977 portfolio, Lawrence translated his series of John Brown paintings into 22 stunning color screenprints. The complete portfolio comes to auction at $100,000 to $150,000.
Abstraction is represented by an example of the earliest abstractions by Norman Lewis with Tenement, oil on board, 1947 ($120,000-180,000), as well as Howardena Pindell with Skowhegan Series: Lake Lillies for Karen, mixed-media, 1980-81 ($75,000-100,000), and Untitled (#72), mixed-media including punched graph papers, 1975 ($30,000-50,000). Also of note is Sam Gilliam’s 1967 acrylic, dye pigments and metallic powder work on canvas ($80,000-120,000), and Alvin D. Loving, Jr.’s Wild Goose Lake, acrylic on canvas, 1981 ($25,000-35,000).Sculpture spans from the Harlem Renaissance to the contemporary, with works by Augusta Savage, Richmond Barthé, Simone Leigh, and Wangechi Mutu. Highlights include Savage’s Head of a Young Black Man, painted plaster, 1931-35 ($35,000-50,000), and Gamin, plaster painted gold, circa 1929 ($10,000-15,000); Barthé’s Black Majesty, bronze with a brown patina, 1969 ($50,000-75,000); two glazed terracotta vessels circa 1990s by Leigh ($50,000-75,000, apiece); and a striking pair of assemblage sculptures by Wangechi Mutu—Untitled (Bottle People Series), mixed media and glass sculptures, 1997 ($20,000-30,000).
Swann Galleries’ April 4, 2024 sale of African American Art brought crowds back to the sale room with a selection of standout modernist works alongside a contemporary selection sold to benefit the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. The auction earned $3.4 million with an 82% sell-through rate by lot. The sale established seven records and saw four market debuts.
“We are extremely pleased with the strong results of our spring sale. It is very satisfying to see a rising demand for the figurative modern and postwar masters whose auction market Swann developed; including Benny Andrews, Richmond Barthé, Aaron Douglas and Hughie Lee-Smith. The great interest we see in exceptional works by lesser artists like Paul Keene, Rose Piper and Renée Stout also demonstrates the breadth of our market.”
Nigel Freeman, Director of African American Art
Artist records from the top fifteen lots sold included Benny Andrews with Time for Church, oil on canvas, 1999, at $203,000; one of four surviving 1940s paintings by Rose Piper—Subway Nuns, oil on canvas, 1947—at $149,000; and Paul F. Keene, Jr. with a vibrant 1953 painting that combines modernism and the Afro-Caribbean imagery Keene encountered in Haiti, at $87,500. Additional artist records included those for Carrol Sockwell, Rene Stout, and Bernie Casey.
The sale boasted four auction debuts with Adebunmi Gbadebo, Joseph Lofton, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Dianne Smith.
Additional sale highlights included print records a complete portfolio of Jacob Lawrence’s The Legend of John Brown, 1977, which brought $173,000; and Aaron Douglas’s extremely scarce proof impression woodcut of O, Lord!, circa 1926, at $100,000. Kermit Oliver’s Hay Rolls, acrylic on board, 1983, tied the previous record set by Swann at $112,000, and Hughie Lee-Smith’s Ball Player, oil on canvas, 1970, earned the second highest price for the artist at $341,000.
