- Alston, Charles HenryFirst African American supervisor for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project; created the first image of an African American displayed at the White House1907-1977
- Basquiat, Jean-MichelNeo-expressionist painting and drawing; raw, gestural works mixing graffiti-style imagery, scrawled text, and symbols, referencing African American historical figures, anatomy, jazz, and street culture1960-1988
- Bearden, Romare HowardPioneering collage artist whose layered, photomontage-based works became some of the most acclaimed depictions of African American life in 20th-century American art1911-1988
- Catlett, ElizabethSculpture and printmaking (linocuts, lithographs, woodcuts) centered on the Black-American and Mexican working-class experience, especially the strength of Black women; works include 'Sharecropper,' the 'Negro Woman' series, and 'Homage to My Young Black Sisters'1915-2012
- Douglas, AaronKnown as 'the father of Black American art' for developing the visual style that defined the Harlem Renaissance1899-1979
- Gilliam, SamAbstract / Color Field painting and sculpture; pioneered the 'drape' painting — large stained, unstretched canvases hung and draped from walls and ceilings — giving painting a sculptural, three-dimensional presence1933-2022
- Hammons, DavidConceptual art, performance, printmaking, and found-object sculpture using materials coded as 'Black' (hair, grease, chicken bones, basketballs) and ironic titles to interrogate race, value, and the art world; known for his 'body prints' and the 'African-American Flag' (1990)1943-present
- Hendricks, BarkleyPortrait painting; bold, life-size portraits of everyday Black subjects rendered with cool elegance against flat, often monochrome backgrounds, blending realism with Color Field influences1945-2017
- Jones, Lois MailouPainting, watercolor, collage, and textile design spanning Impressionist landscapes, Paris scenes, African-mask-inspired compositions, and Haitian subjects; a key transmitter of Negritude aesthetics into visual art1905-1998
- Lawrence, Jacob ArmsteadCreated the 60-panel 'Migration Series' depicting the Great Migration; first African American artist represented by a major New York gallery1917-2000
- Lewis, Edmonia (Mary)First professional sculptor of African American and Native American heritage to achieve international recognitionc.1844-1907
- Lewis, NormanAbstract Expressionist painting; gestural, rhythmic abstraction often evoking crowds, processions, and music while alluding to Black urban life and social tensions; works include 'Harlem Turns White' (1955) and 'Evening Rendezvous'1909-1979
- Marshall, Kerry JamesLarge-scale figurative painting (acrylic on unstretched canvas), drawing, and sculpture centering Black figures in everyday and historical scenes, deliberately rendered in deep, unapologetic black1955-present
- Motley, Archibald John Jr.Major Harlem Renaissance-era painter known for vivid depictions of Black urban and nightlife in Chicago, despite his own complicated relationship to the movement itself1891-1981
- Pippin, HoraceSelf-taught painter eulogized by The New York Times as 'the most important Negro painter' in American history; first Black artist to be the subject of a published monograph1888-1946
- Ringgold, FaithPainting, mixed-media sculpture, performance, and especially narrative 'story quilts' combining painted canvas, fabric, and text to tell stories of Black and feminine life; also a celebrated children's-book author/illustrator1930-2024
- Saar, BetyeAssemblage and mixed-media art; densely layered constructions of found objects exploring African American identity, spirituality, memory, and the reclamation of racist imagery; best known for 'The Liberation of Aunt Jemima' (1972)1926-present
- Savage, AugustaPioneering Harlem Renaissance sculptor and educator who launched the careers of numerous major Black artists, including Jacob Lawrence1892-1962
- Sherald, AmyPortrait painting; monumental portraits of everyday Black Americans rendered with skin tones in grisaille (grayscale) against flat, vibrant color fields, shifting focus from racial categorization to individual presence1973-present
- Tanner, Henry OssawaFirst African American painter to achieve international acclaim1859-1937
- Thomas, Alma WoodseyFirst African American woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art1891-1978
- Walker, KaraContemporary art using room-size black cut-paper silhouette tableaux, drawing, painting, projection, sculpture, and film to interrogate race, gender, sexuality, and violence in the narratives of the antebellum South1969-present
- Weems, Carrie MaePhotography and interdisciplinary art combining staged images, text, audio, and video to examine race, gender, family, and power in American life; best known for 'The Kitchen Table Series' (1990)1953-present
- White, CharlesPainting, drawing, printmaking, and murals chronicling African American history, dignity, and struggle in bold, sculptural, social-realist forms; famed for the mural 'The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy' (1943)1918-1979
- Wiley, KehindePortrait painting; large-scale, vividly colored naturalistic portraits that place contemporary Black subjects in the heroic poses of European Old Master paintings, set against ornate decorative backgrounds1977-present
- Woodruff, HalePainting and muralism; social-realist and later abstract work, best known for the 'Amistad Mutiny' murals (1939) at Talladega College and the 'Art of the Negro' murals at Atlanta University1900-1980