Renowned sculptor Elizabeth Catlett passed away last April. However, she left us with a lifetime of timeless treasures that applaud African American and Mexican-working women. The sculptures made of smoothly modeled clay, wood and stone depict women as strong but nurturing.
Wells Fargo presents The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, Where Art and History Intersect, which is an inspirational journey through five centuries of African American history, culture and heritage. It’s presented as part of MoAD’s Collector’s Series, the exhibition celebrates Bernard and Shirley Kinsey’s passion for collecting objects of extraordinary significance over the 40 years of their marriage.
It’s one of the largest private collections of African American artifacts, documents and artwork. In addition to the works of Elizabeth Catlett, the Kinsey collection of rare books, manuscripts, paintings, prints, sculpture, and photographs include an early version of the Emancipation Proclamation and correspondence between Malcolm X and Alex Haley. It further contains slave shackles, a 1773 first-edition copy of poems by Phillis Wheatley, a 1795 Bannaker’s Almanack, 18th and 19th-century slave documents, letters by Zora Neale Hurston and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Finally, the collection has fine art by luminaries such as Henry O. Tanner, Artis Lane, Richmond Barthé, Samuel L. Dunson, Lois Mailou Jones, Richard Mayhew, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, and more are on display. –yvette caslin
The Kinsey Collection exhibit runs from February 8, 2013 to May 19, 2013 at the Museum of African American Diaspora in San Francisco.
