Public Presentation: The Legacy of Charles White

Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 7–8 p.m.

Reservations required.  
Members: Free
General Public: $20
Students: $5

Join us for a captivating event celebrating the opening of the exhibition, Charles White: A Little Higher. Discover White’s groundbreaking contributions, artistic vision, dedicated activism, and profound influence, all of which continue to resonate today. This special evening features White’s son, Ian White, an accomplished artist and the director of the Charles White Archives, in conversation with Esther Adler, Curator of Drawings and Prints at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Moderated by Julie Aronson, Cincinnati Art Museum’s Curator of American Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings. 

*Please note: Museum lectures will take place in Gallery 105 during the renovation of the lower level.  

About the exhibition:

The exhibition features nearly 50 of White’s drawings, prints, and paintings selected from the Primas Family Collection, one of the nation’s premiere collections of work by Black artists. The forceful images of White’s early career merge into the breathtaking, emotive works for which he is best known, like the two large charcoal drawings in the exhibition from his J’Accuse series. Another notable feature, on public display for the first time, is a group of 12 oil-wash illustrations commissioned by the Johnson Publishing Company (Ebony, JET) for the landmark book The Shaping of Black America (1975) by noted author and Ebony editor Lerone Bennett, Jr.

Image credit: Charles White (American, 1918–1979), Love Letter III, 1977, lithograph, 30 x 22 1/8 in. (76.2 x 56.2 cm), Primas Family Collection, © The Charles White Archive

If you need accessibility accommodations, please contact us in advance at [email protected].