Collecting African American Art Works on Paper and Canvas

In this basic how-to for collectors, there is much useful information including appendixes of art dealers by state, photographic resources, African American Museum Association resources. Numerous illustrations. Selected bibliography. Covers hundreds of artists.
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Art enthusiasts and lovers of African American art have long considered collecting art a hobby reserved solely for the wealthy. Collecting African-American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas effectively dispels this misconception. In these pages, lavishly illustrated with almost two hundred works by a wide range of artists, readers will find practical guidelines for becoming an informed collector, including specific criteria for working with dealers. By providing succinct advice on framing, insurance, tax and estate planning, as well as pointers on how to care for one’s collection, author Halima Taha makes collecting an enjoyable — and affordable — pastime for everyone.Combining a rich and diverse blend of aesthetic traditions from Africa, the Caribbean, and America, African American art has emerged as the most actively collected art in the marketplace. This guide presents both emerging and established artists and identifies dealers throughout the nation specializing in the field. Insightful and accessible, it is the first book to define the role of the collector of African American art. The result is a unique and essential guide to developing a meaningful and rewarding collection.————————–

“It took her eight years to find a publisher, because they told her a book about art needed to be associated with an exhibition, that black people don’t buy art or read books, and white people don’t buy black art. Fortunately, Taha used her intelligence to subvert the naysayers. She did her own market research by calling popular magazines for their demographics to attest to their diverse readerships. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art had a seminal Bill Traylor exhibition, she called to find out their attendance and published catalogue numbers. All of the Bill Traylor hard cover catalogues were sold out and they had fewer than half of the soft bound catalogues within the first month of the show’. She says, “I was able to utilize all of the data. So, the hoops I had to jump through for those eight years reinforced how invisible and devalued African American visual culture was in mainstream institutions and with publishers at the end of the 20th century. Knowing how valuable Black culture is and how integral it is to American culture made me push harder.” —interview with HALIMA TAHA, Black Art in America

For art lovers and collectors, this book offers the first complete, beautifully illustrated guide to appreciating and acquiring artwork by Americans of African descent. 190 illustrations, 150 in color. Crown publishers, by Halima Taha

As new in dj, issued in 1998, scarce first edition, first printing now OP.

$ 250.00