Reading List: Black History Month 2025

February is Black History Month! To celebrate, the Frick Art Research Library presents a reading list from our collections that highlights the work of a variety of Black artists, gallerists, arts workers, scholars, and collectors.

For further exploration, please refer to our 2021 Black History Month Reading List. Building on the same theme, this updated list showcases new acquisitions and other selections from the library’s continually expanding collections.

We invite you to examine these books and many more resources in our renovated reading room, reopening April 17, 2025!

1. Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian’s Legacy

   Edited by Erica Ciallela and Philip S. Palmer (2024)

   Dive into the life of Belle da Costa Greene, J. Pierpont Morgan’s personal librarian and the founding director of The Morgan Library & Museum. Greene is revered for her exceptional work as a librarian, curator, and scholar in the fields of rare books and special collections. This significant catalogue accompanies an exhibition of the same name currently on view at the Morgan through May 4, 2025.

   

2. Exhibiting Blackness: African Americans and the American Art Museum

   By Bridget R. Cooks (2011)

   Examine the history of African American art in the American museum world. This volume delves into historically significant exhibitions, ranging from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s infamous Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900–1968 (1969) to The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, which toured extensively across the United States in the early 2000s. Enjoy this engaging study by author Bridget R. Cooks, a curator and professor of art history and African American studies at the University of California, Irvine.

   

3. Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch

   Edited by Sarah Ganz Blythe, Dominic Molon, and Kajette Solomon (2024)

   Learn about the work of early twentieth-century sculptor Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. A Rhode Island native, Prophet was one of the first women of color to graduate from the esteemed Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This important catalogue was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the RISD Museum and features essays by contemporary artists including Kelly Taylor Mitchell and Simone Leigh.

   

4. All These Liberations: Women Artists in the Eileen Harris Norton Collection

   Edited by Taylor Renee Aldridge (2024)

   Explore the dynamic art of prominent collector Eileen Harris Norton, who acquires with a focus on works by women artists across diverse backgrounds and time periods. Her collection features renowned artists such as Ruth Waddy, Senga Nengudi, and Adrian Piper. This volume not only gives voice to the significant contributions of women artists systematically omitted from the art historical canon but also celebrates Harris Norton’s lasting impact on the art world.

   

5. Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces

   Edited by Linda Goode Bryant, Thomas J. Lax, and Lilia Rocio Taboada (2022)

   Discover the pioneering work of arts worker, activist, and gallerist Linda Goode Bryant, founder of Just Above Midtown (JAM), a space where Black artists could experiment with new and exciting media and exhibit their work. JAM operated in New York City from 1974 to 1986, and this catalogue meticulously outlines the chronology of the gallery and includes rich reproductions of archival materials and photographs. This publication accompanied a 2022–23 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

   

6. Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists Since 1940

   Edited by María Elena Ortiz (2024)

   Trace the contributions and impact of Caribbean and Black artists within the history of Surrealism. This insightful exhibition catalogue from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth includes works from artists across generations and media, from Minnie Evans to Melvin Edwards to Naudline Pierre.

   

7. Art and Activism at Tougaloo College

   By Turry M. Flucker (2022)

   Witness the power of art in times of social injustice. Tougaloo College, a historically Black college in Mississippi, became in the 1960s one of the state’s first sites for the display of modern art, showing works on campus by artists such as David Driskell and Romare Bearden. This exhibition catalogue published by the American Federation of Arts examines an art collection that emerged during the Civil Rights Movement and reveals how creative expression can be a powerful force in confronting social issues.

   

8. Four Generations: The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection of Abstract Art

   Edited by Courtney J. Martin (2016)

   Delve into abstraction through the lens of the noteworthy and expansive private collection of Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida, which contains works documenting the critical contributions by African and African Diasporic artists to twentieth- and twenty-first-century abstraction. Featuring essays, artist profiles, and an impressive annotated bibliography, this volume comprises an invaluable overview of the genre in the modern and contemporary eras.

   

All photos by Joseph Coscia Jr., The Frick Collection