- Ernest Crichlow
Ernest Crichlow (
June 19 ,1914 –November 10 ,2005 ) was anAfrican American social realist artist known for his role in theHarlem Renaissance .Early life and career
Crichlow was born in
Brooklyn, New York in 1914 to Caribbean immigrants. He studied art at the School of Commercial Illustrating and Advertising Art in New York andNew York University . Crichlow started work as an artist in a studio sponsored by Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project.Augusta Savage was an early patron of his work as was the case for many of the artists of the Harlem Renaissance.Career
His first exhibition was in 1938 in the
Harlem Community Center in Harlem, New York. One of his best known works, thelithograph "Lovers III" shows a young black woman being harassed in her bedroom by a member of theKu Klux Klan . Crichlow's work was exhibited in the1939 New York World's Fair and in theLibrary of Congress the following year.Over the next few decades, his work was regularly shown in leading US art galleries especially in the northeast although he held two exhibitions in
Atlanta University in the 1940s. By the end of his career, his work had been honored by President Carter. His 1967 painting "White Fence" showing a young white girl being separated by a fence from five black girls was the most notable from his later career along with a 25 panel mural atBoys and Girls High School in Brooklyn.Crichlow was also well-known as an illustrator for children's literature providing art work for "Two in a Team", "Maria", "Lift Every Voice" and "Magic Mirrors". He founded the Cinque Gallery in 1969 with Norman Lewis and
Romare Bearden as well as teaching art at New York University and the Art Students League.References
* [http://www.museums.udel.edu/jones/archive/archive_pages/artist_pages/chrichlow.html Article on Ernest Crichlow]
*"Ernest Crichlow." "St. James Guide to Black Artists" St. James Press, 1997.Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2005.
* [http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--obit-crichlow1112nov12,0,4177315.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork "Newsday" obituary November 12, 2005]
* [http://www.restorationarts.org/crichlowarchive.html Skylight Gallery Archives: Ernest Crichlow]
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