The Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) has more than doubled its collection of American works by artists of African descent with 55 important works on paper from the collection of Robert and Jean Steele. The works created between 1976 and 2014 examine cultural memory, social justice, politics, war, Black history, resilience and diversity of the American experience through the lens of the African diaspora. HoMA will present the works, many of which have never been on display, in “Forward Together: African American Prints from the Jean & Robert Steele Collection,” opening Jan. 18, 2024.
“We are honored that Robert and Jean chose the Honolulu Museum of Art to care for their important collection. These incredible works will enhance HoMA’s ability to educate its community about the enormous contributions of African American artists, the medium of printmaking and the artistic styles and themes of the late-20th and early-21st centuries,” said HoMA Director and CEO Halona Norton-Westbrook. “Bringing these works into the collection also aligns with HoMA’s diversity and inclusion goals and advances the Museum’s ability to share relevant stories through art from our time.”
Twenty-six artists are among the new acquisitions and bolster HoMA’s holdings by notable artists such as Romare Bearden, Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold. The recent acquisitions also introduce artists who are new to HoMA’s collection, including Emma Amos, David C. Driskell, Barkley L. Hendricks, Curlee Raven Holton, Joyce Scott and others. The works represent various printmaking and media techniques along with several stylistic approaches, including figuration, abstraction, dynamic line, expressive color and black and white.
For more than four decades, the Steeles have amassed an impressive collection of works that highlight motifs of cultural memory, modernist aesthetics, the African diaspora, religious observances and figurative representation. Supporting notable and emerging creators, as well as their mentors and students, has always been at the core of their collecting practice. They have also been intentional about making purchases from artists and authorized printmaking workshops that were founded by and focused on African American artists and art fairs, auctions, nonprofit arts organizations, college and university fundraisers and galleries that represented African American artists.
When the Steeles relocated to Honolulu in 2016 to be closer to their daughter and Jean’s family home, they recognized HoMA’s commitment to sharing works by artists of color. They were especially moved by HoMA’s presentation of “30 Americans,” a 2020 exhibition drawn from the collection of the Rubell Museum (Miami) featuring works by 30 contemporary artists who are connected through their African American cultural history. After seeing the exhibition, the Steeles decided to gift a portion of their collection to help diversify the museum’s holdings and further their ability to present a full scope of American art.
“Over the years, we have devoted ourselves to Black artists’ rich and overlooked contributions to the field of American art,” said Robert Steele. “It is our great hope that these works, selected by HoMA, will be well cared for and shared with our adopted Honolulu community while expanding the Museum’s collection of African American art to include a greater representation of African American artists.”
Steele purchased his first work in 1968 as a graduate student in Harlem. Robert Blackburn, the first master printer at Universal Limited Art Editions in New York, encouraged Steele to connect with Lou Stovall—who printed for Jacob Lawrence, Sam Gilliam, David C. Driskell and others—and Allan Edmunds at the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia. Steele later acquired a lithograph by Ron Adams of Blackburn in the Chelsea workshop he opened in 1948. The print, titled “Blackburn,” presents a rich, detailed look at the artist working in a space that is heavily influenced by the Harlem Renaissance and Social Realism, with nods to Mexican muralists and European and American modernists. “Blackburn” will be featured in HoMA's upcoming exhibition.
HoMA will also present Jacob Lawrence’s “Forward Together,” a silkscreen that inspired the exhibition title. In the 1997 work, Lawrence uses his signature color palette to pay homage to Harriet Tubman, offering an abstract depiction of her efforts to shepherd enslaved people from captivity in the South to freedom in the North.
Because of his growing collection and expertise in the field, Robert Steele served as the second executive director of the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts & Culture of African Americans & the African Diaspora from 2002-2012 following a career as a professor and dean in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. Over the years, the Steeles have shared portions of their collection with institutions across the county, making gifts of art to David C. Driskell Center (College Park, Maryland); Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, Alabama); Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia); William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia); and Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Connecticut).
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About the Honolulu Museum of Art
A vital part of Hawaiʻi’s cultural landscape, HoMA is a unique gathering place where art, global worldviews, culture and education converge in the heart of Honolulu. In addition to an internationally renowned permanent collection, the museum houses innovative exhibitions, an art school, an independent art house theatre, two cafés and a museum shop within one of the most beautiful, iconic buildings in Hawaiʻi.
The museum inspires and uplifts the community through transformative art experiences that celebrate creativity, cultivate wonder, foster empathy and enhance knowledge in order to deepen our connections with one another and the world we share.
Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917 – 2000)
"Forward Together," 1997
Screenprint
Partial gift of Robert and Jean Steele; partial purchase with funds from the John V. Levas Trust, 2023 (2023-06-06)
© 2023 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Romare Bearden (American, 1911 – 1988)
"Girl in the Garden," 1979
Screenprint
Partial gift of Robert and Jean Steele; partial purchase with funds from the John V. Levas Trust, 2023 (2026-06-05)
© 2023 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Ron Adams (American, 1934 – 2020)
"Blackburn," 2000
Lithograph
Partial gift of Robert and Jean Steele; partial purchase with funds from the John V. Levas Trust, 2023 (2023-06-01)
Faith Ringgold (American, b. 1930)
"Wynton’s Tune," 2004
Screenprint
Partial gift of Robert and Jean Steele; partial purchase with funds from the John V. Levas Trust, 2023 (2023-06-04)
©2023 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York
