Celebrating Black History Month

Writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston was a fixture of the Harlem Renaissance and author of the masterwork 'Their Eyes Were Watching God.'

Image Source: Zora Neale Hurston - Acrylic Painting on Canvas - Urban Graffiti Wall Art

Langston Hughes was a Black writer whose poems, columns, novels, and plays made him a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Image Source: Winold Reiss (1886–1953) / Pastel on Illustration Board, ca. 1925 - National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Gwendolyn Brooks was a postwar poet best known as the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for her 1949 book 'Annie Allen.'

Image Source: Poem Analysis

Ralph Ellison was a 20th century African American writer and scholar best known for his renowned, award-winning novel 'Invisible Man.'

Image Source: United States Postal Service Stamp Artwork 

Playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry wrote 'A Raisin in the Sun' and was the first Black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award.

Image Source: Lauren Kaelin

Toni Morrison was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Among her best-known novels are 'The Bluest Eye,' 'Song of Solomon,' 'Beloved' and 'A Mercy.'

Image Source: Toni Morrison - Acrylic Painting on Canvas - Urban Graffiti Wall Art

James Baldwin was an essayist, playwright, novelist and voice of the American civil rights movement known for works including 'Notes of a Native Son,' 'The Fire Next Time' and 'Go Tell It on the Mountain.'

Image Source: Saatchi Art

Author Octavia E. Butler is known for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. Her novels include 'Patternmaster,' 'Kindred,' 'Dawn' and 'Parable of the Sower.'

After being kidnapped from West Africa and enslaved in Boston, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American and one of the first women to publish a book of poetry in the colonies in 1773.

Image Source: Britannica

Maya Angelou was a multitalented poet and author known for her acclaimed 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Image Source: Christina Carmel

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century.

Image Source: Wikipedia - Portrait of a Lady (Alma Thomas), 1947 by Laura Wheeler Waring

Henry Ossawa Tanner was an African American painter who frequently depicted biblical scenes and is best known for the paintings "Nicodemus Visiting Jesus," "The Banjo Lesson" and "The Thankful Poor."

Image Source: Black Art Story

Faith Ringgold is an American artist and author who became famous for creating innovative, quilted narrations that communicate her political beliefs.

Image Source: Brooklyn Museum - Faith Ringgold Early Works #25: Self-Portrait, 1965. Oil on Canvas.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter in the 1980s. He is best known for his primitive style and his collaboration with pop artist Andy Warhol.

Image Source: Roots Art Gallery - Dalinina (Artist)

Kara Walker is an African American artist who rose to fame for her use of large paper silhouettes to explore social issues surrounding gender, race and Black history.

Image Source: Artist Chuck Close, Kara/Felt Hand Stamp, Oil Paint