Art Since 1950
Contemporary art is essential to the mission of a teaching art museum; it is the art that reflects our current reality, interprets our history, informs and molds us. Importantly on a college campus, contemporary art embodies interdisciplinary thinking and teaches about literacy, cultural currencies, and the interface of the creative process with socio-political and ethno-religious issues. At CFAM, the contemporary art collection has experienced the most rapid growth over the last several years, starting with the creation of the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art at Rollins College (one of our Featured Collections) in 2013. Due to the extraordinary generosity of Barbara ’68 and Theodore ’68 Alfond, this collection – now including more than 400 works – continues to grow. In parallel, other acquisitions address other areas of the contemporary art landscape, allowing our museum to be an active participant in the dialogue about the art of today and showcase art as an agent of change.
Contemporary art is an area of top priority for ongoing acquisitions. In recent years, we have intentionally focused on strengthening our holding by women and minority artists, especially African-American and Latino artists, offering diverse perspectives and approaches that reflect a multitude of experiences throughout our cultural history. Significant acquisitions include sculptural works by Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), Whitfield Lovell (b. 1959), and Rina Banerjee (b. 1963); paintings by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) and Ria Brodell (b. 1977); prints by Luis Camnitzer (b. 1937) and Ramiro Gomez (b. 1986); and a neon sculpture by Patrick Martinez (b. 1980).
Artists Featured in This Section
Rina Banerjee
American, b. Kolkata, West Benghal, India, 1963Her captivity was once someone's treasure and even pleasure but she blew and flew away took root which grew, we knew this was like no other feather, a third kind of bird that perched on vine intertwined was neither native nor her queens daughters..., 2011
Anglo-Indian pedestal 1860, Victorian birdcage, shells, feathers, gourds, grape wine, coral, fractured charlotte doll heads, steel knitted mesh with glass beads
83 7/8 x 83 7/8 x 72 in
Museum purchase from the Michel Roux Acquisition Fund
Dawoud Bey
American, b. 1953Janice Kemp and Triniti Williams, 2012
Archival pigment prints mounted on dibond
40 x 64 in (40 x 32 in idividually)
Museum purchase from the Kenneth Curry Acquisition Fund
Luis Camnitzer
German, b. 1937Timelanguage, 2016
Xerox toner laid on paper in 14 parts
12 1/4 x 18 3/4in
Museum purchase from the G.H. Smith Watch Key Acquisition Fund
Elizabeth Catlett
American, 1915 - 2012Naima, 2009
Patinated bronze
11 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 in
Museum purchase from the Michel Roux Acquisition Fund
Earl Cunningham
(American, 1893–1977)Canal with Water Hyacinth, ca. 1960
Oil on masonite
16 x 20 in.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Yochum 2015.24
Imogen Cunningham
(American, 1883–1976)Pentimento, 1973
Photographic print
17 1/4 x 14 1/4 in.
Purchased with the Michel Roux Acquisitions Fund, 2013.14
The first time Imogen Cunningham photographed the transcendental painter Morris Graves was in 1950 on the grounds of his private retreat outside Seattle. An introspective portrait study of Graves who as a conscientious-objector had refused to enter the military during World War II resulted in his imprisonment, Cunningham’s photograph is considered a classic portrait. The photographer commented about the image, “Many people think it’s the only portrait I’ve made. You know, he’s never said whether he like it or not.”
Nearly twenty years later, in 1969, Cunningham sought out the reclusive Graves to include him in her venture After Ninety, a project about old age. He turned her down. She was persistent and several years later, in 1973, he agreed to have her photograph him, musing, “How can anyone refuse a 90-year old like Imogen anything?” Cunningham was 90 and Graves 63.
As a college student, Imogen studied chemistry and worked in the botany department of the University of Washington. She became interested in photography in 1905 working with a 4 x 5 camera ordered through a mail-order correspondence school. Gertrude Käsebier’s 1907 article published in The Craftsman inspired her. Cunningham worked in the Seattle studio of Edward S. Curtis, a chronicler of Amerindians, for two years beginning in 1907, learning the fine points of platinum printing and retouching of negatives. Following a fellowship to Dresden, Germany where she studied with a photo chemist, viewed the International Photographic Exhibition and artwork at museums, she opened a portrait studio in 1910 upon her return to Seattle.
Throughout her career that spanned 70 years Cunningham featured portraiture and images of the body including nudes, however she is most well known for the photographs emanating from her affiliation with the California formalists group F/64 that included photographers Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. The name derived from the f-stop on the camera that provided the sharpest focus and depth of field. Inspired by these associations Cunningham developed her early style—close-ups photographs of industrial complexes, botanical plants and flowers—calla lilies and magnolias blossoms. Ten of these photographic studies debuted in the exhibition Film und Foto featuring works by American and European artists held in Stuttgart, Germany in 1929.
Emory Douglas
Under the circumstances, the gains of revolution can be safeguarded against U.S. fascist aggression and the security of the people defended only when we reinforce our own defense power and are ready for action at all times., 1969
Offset lithograph on paper
15 x 22 3/4 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, 2017.15.12
Emory Douglas
Only with the power of the gun can the black masses halt the terror, 1969
Offset lithograph on paper
15 x 23 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, 2017.15.11
Emory Douglas
Warning to America-We are 25-30 million strong, 1970
Offset lithograph on paper
22 x 14 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, 2017.15.7
Emory Douglas
The Lumpen-The Heirs of Malcolm have picked up the gun, Offset lithograph on paper
22 x 14 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, 2017.15.8
Emory Douglas
Only on the bones of the oppressors can the people freedom be found, 1969
Offset lithograph on paper
23 x 15 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, 2017.15.10
Audrey Flack
American, b. 1931Head of "Civitas", 1993
Bronze with Patina
30 1/2 x 21 x 21 in.
Museum Purchase from the Wally Findlay Acquisition Fund
Sam Gilliam
American, b. 1933Blue and Red (And Again), 1967
Acrylic on Canvas
90 x 40 in.
Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips
Duncan Grant
British, 1885 - 1973The Fireside Table, Charleston, 1973
Pastel
20 x 16 1/2 in.
Bequest of Kenneth Curry, Ph.D
Felrath Hines
American, 1913 - 1993Mirage, 1958
Oil on Canvas
36 x 50 in.
Gift of Dorothy Fisher, Wife of the artist
Felrath Hines
(American, 1913–1993)Third Movement, 1989
Pastel
20 x 18 in.
Gift of Dorothy Fisher, wife of the artist 2012.4
Doris Leeper
American, 1929 - 2000Split Square Triangle VII, 1973
Oil on Masonite
12 x 12 in
Gift from the Mary Jane Urban Trust
Whitfield Lovell
American b. 1959Patience, 2004
Charcoal on wood, radio
56 x 35 x 20 in.
Museum purchase from the Michel Roux Acquisition Fund
Patrick Martinez
American, b. 1980Then They Came For Me, 2016
Neon
20 1/2 x 26 x 3 in.
Gift of Susan and Bob Battaglia and Margie Pabst Steinmetz and Chuck Steinmetz
Lorna Simpson
American, b. 1960Counting, 1991
Photogravure and screenprint
73 3/4 x 38 in.
Museum purchase from the Anniversary Acquisition Fund
