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James A. Porter, 1905-1970
Born Baltimore, Maryland
An influential artist and art historian, James A. Porter founded the field of African American art history. He chaired Howard University's Art Department and directed the university's art gallery from 1953 until his death in 1970. Porter championed unrecognized African American artists through organized exhibitions and published work. His influential Modern Negro Art (1943) placed African American art in the context of the history of modernism for the first time. Porter studied in France, Cuba, and Haiti and traveled in West Africa, Egypt, and Brazil. These trips abroad influenced his work, which was included during his lifetime in exhibitions at major institutions, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Museum of Modern Art.
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