A century of African American art : the Paul R. Jones collection / edited by Amalia K. Amaki.

A significant amount of meaningful writing on African American art is produced for exhibition catalogs. A Century of African American Art: The Paul R. Jones Collection is a respectable addition to this body of scholarship; it also offers a wealth of quality reproductions and brief artist biographies. Amaki edited ten important essays that enhance encounters with this eclectic array of art, which represents more than a century of art making and four decades of art collecting now housed at The University Museum, University of Delaware. Sixteen women artists, with a solid foundation in printmaking and photography, span several generations and bridge figuration with abstraction. Some essays offer a general overview of the art and its acquisition by Jones, while others highlight particular artists ranging from little-known batik painter Leo F. Twiggs to canonical collagist Romare Bearden. Two essays on color by Ikem Okoye and Marcia Cohen and Diana McClintock complement each other while complicating the political and material use of pigment by African American artists. Short essays on collecting and preservation, by Amaki and Debra Norris respectively, reiterate a current emphasis on broadening public exposure for African American art as an investment worthy of professional conservation and appreciation. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through professionals. M. R. Vendryes York College, CUNY

A Century of African American Art 0 showcases the work of 66 artists found in the seminal collection created by Paul R. Jones. Born in Alabama, Jones was active in the civil rights movement, worked in the White House, and served as a deputy director of the Peace Corps in Thailand. A man of modest means with a great passion for art, Jones sought to both support African American artists and redress the absence of black artists in mainstream museums. And what an eye Jones has. This beautifully produced book presents stellar work by such artists as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Betye Saar, and Leo Twiggs, as well as photographs by James VanDerZee, Prentice H. Polk, and Carrie Mae Weems, all accompanied by perceptive essays and useful artist biographies. --Donna Seaman Copyright 2005 Booklist

This unique book catalogs Paul R. Jones's eclectic collection of African American art, which comprises works of known and lesser-known African American artists reverberating with talent. Edited by Amaki, curator of the collection and professor of art and black American studies at the University of Delaware, where the collection is housed, the book features works that transcend historical afflictions and emerge as testimony to the transformation of the energies of the disadvantaged into creative works. These works speak of, and to, an entire nation. Amaki's introduction provides context for a wonderful visual and intellectual experience. Artist biographies are a helpful addition, as is the index. The artworks are expertly reproduced, with more than 100 color plates on fine-quality paper. This volume will be a great addition to any art collection and is recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.-Edward K. Owusu-Ansah, CUNY Coll. of Staten Island Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.