Alston, Charles Henry
1907-1977 · Contribution: 1935-1990
Visual Arts
First African American supervisor for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project; created the first image of an African American displayed at the White House

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Category
- Visual Arts
Impact on the world
Alston shaped both the art and the artists of the Harlem Renaissance, creating landmark public murals while opening the WPA's arts programs to Black talent as their first Black supervisor.
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Visual Arts
Basquiat, Jean-Michel
1960-1988
Neo-expressionist painting and drawing; raw, gestural works mixing graffiti-style imagery, scrawled text, and symbols, referencing African American historical figures, anatomy, jazz, and street culture
Bearden, Romare Howard
1911-1988
Pioneering collage artist whose layered, photomontage-based works became some of the most acclaimed depictions of African American life in 20th-century American art
Catlett, Elizabeth
1915-2012
Sculpture 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'
Douglas, Aaron
1899-1979
Known as 'the father of Black American art' for developing the visual style that defined the Harlem Renaissance