Once the children have left home, found gainful employment and removed their hands from your pockets, it’s not unusual for couples to look around and discover that they are at a loss to fill the void created by their absence. Often they may even vacillate around their new found financial freedom. Some may decide to follow diverging paths — golf for him and a class for her. But for cultured Detroiters Joanne and Harold Braggs, who four years ago seized the opportunity to indulge themselves and do what they really wanted to, the choice was an obvious one.
“We were both always interested in art and now that we’re empty nesters we can pursue that passion,” explains Joanne Braggs of their relatively new but expansive collection of African American art. “We met an art dealer and he kind of opened the door for us. The first piece we actually acquired was a Robert Colscott piece, an oil on canvas which was a tribute to Lichenstein,” adds husband Harold, a retired ANR Pipeline executive.
In less than four years the Braggs, who have become ardent collectors and advocates for the local art scene have amassed an impressive collection numbering some 200 figuratives, abstracts and sculptures. “We have been terrible,” quips Joanne. “But we have Benny Andrews, Jacob Lawrence, Al Loving, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Henry Tanner, Romare Bearden, Huey Lee Smith, Richard Mayhew and Gilda Snowden.”
And while Detroit’s art scene is gaining momentum on a national level for contemporary African American artists and their distinctive expressions of personal experience and cultural movements, Harold hint that something is lacking. “The art scene in Detroit is rich. But I think there’s a lack of education [regarding] art in general and African American art specifically. My experience for most of us is that art is just a pretty picture on the wall and I think it’s much more complex than that. Many times it speaks of our struggles and our experiences here in America. With some of the older pieces the artists weren’t even able to sign their names, because they were African American.”
The Braggs appreciation for the African American art tradition is as passionate and profound as the masterpieces housed in their extraordinary collection. “We are looking at artists we don’t have right now in our collection. We would still like to get Delaney, and Charles Wright. We’re also collecting Tiffany glass and we’re getting into antique furniture as well,” adds Joanne as an aside. –roz edward
