Alex John
Description
Norman Lewis began his artistic career in the 1930s as a social realist, creating paintings that made visible the plight of the poor and the disenfranchised. But like other Abstract Expressionists who got their start working for the New Deal's Federal Art Program, Lewis later moved away from so-called "social painting" to explore the creative possibilities of abstraction. During this period, he sought to make art that was "above criticism," in the hope that it wouldn't "be discussed in terms of the fact that I'm black." As he explained in 1946-the same year in which his friend Alex John created this portrait-"the excellence of [the African American artist's] work will be the most effective blow against stereotype and the most irrefutable proof of the artificiality of stereotype in general." Lewis was also a well-regarded teacher at various schools, including New York's Art Students League.
Image
Gelatin Silver Print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
