Art of the Americas

C.C.Coyle donated this piece to Berea College in 1942 when he expressed a desire to return his work to the land of his youth. Messages of childhood and aging are referenced in the painting, as his inspiration was provided by a Francis Huston poem, also titled “Forty Years Ago.” The poem voices melancholy about aging [...]

The Diné people are a historically oral culture, meaning they pass on story, myth, and history within material culture and spoken word rather than written documents. Through items such as dance, pottery, or textiles, cultural history is remembered and retold. From 1864 to 1866 the Diné people were incarcerated at Fort Sumner in New Mexico [...]

Jean Kubota Cassill is a printmaker who worked primarily in the mid- to late twentieth century. printmaking. She studied printmaking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she encountered Arthur Frick, a professor of drawing. It is unknown as to how or why he received this artwork, but it may be that Cassill was a student [...]

As a teenager, Maria Montoya Martínez learned how to make pottery from artists in her San Ildefonso Pueblo community in present-day New Mexico, the birthplace of black-on-blackware pottery. Today, she is celebrated for her “rediscovery” of this historic style of ceramics, which had declined in use amongst Pueblo potters beginning in the early 1800s. Martínez [...]

What do you think you would look like as a doll? This collection of paper dolls and dresses were made in 1898 by American artist and feminist activist Emily Grace Hanks when she was only twelve years old. The tiny waists, ballooning sleeves, and luxurious fabric of these paper dresses reflect common fashion trends among [...]

James Whistler was born in Connecticut, but spent most of his life in Europe. His father was a railroad engineer, and when Whistler was eleven the family relocated to St. Petersburg, which Whistler claimed as his birthplace during a libel trial in his later life. Whistler’s first job was drafting the United States coastline for [...]

Warrington Colescott is an American artist best known for his satirical etchings. Colescott studied painting while at University but discovered his love of printmaking in the 1960s. This print is a part of The Great Society series, which is aimed at former president Lyndon B. Johnson’s grandiose political agenda of the same name. Launched in [...]

As a social realist who favored abstract modes of expression, Jacob Lawrence depicted the African American experience and the world around him with vivacity and energy. His images reflect his keen observation of the sights and sounds of Harlem. He used simplified forms, pattern, repetition, and bold color to express the mood and meaning of [...]

John La Farge was mainly known for his stained glass work. In the late nineteenth century, La Farge created numerous stained glass pieces for buildings that are now national treasures. Born in New York City to French parents, La Farge grew up bilingually and studied art when at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland and [...]

Lester F. Pross was one of the most pioneering members of the Berea College faculty during his time here. Born in Bristol, Connecticut and graduating from Oberlin College, Pross joined the Berea College art department in 1946. He retired after 45 years in 1991, only to return to the College in 2000 to teach painting [...]