Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive

Sheldon Cheek
Curatorial Associate

 

Karen C. C. Dalton
Editor

 

104 Mt. Auburn Street, Floor 3R

Cambridge, MA 02138

Phone: 617.495.1875

Fax: 617.495.8511

WEBSITE: http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/IBWA#

Spanning nearly 5,000 years and documenting virtually all forms of media, the Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive is an unprecedented research project devoted to the systematic investigation of how people of African descent have been perceived and represented in art.

 

Started in 1960 by Jean and Dominique de Mänil in reaction to the continuing existence of segregation in the United States, the Archive contains photographs of approximately 30,000 works of art, each one of which is extensively documented and categorized by the Archive's staff. For the first thirty years of the project's existence, the project focused on the production of a prize-winning, four-volume series of generously illustrated books, The Image of the Black in Western Art.

 

Since moving to Harvard in 1994, the project is focused on the production of the final volume of The Image of the Black in Western Art and expanding access to the Archive itself (prior to its arrival at Harvard, the Archive was only available to scholars working on the published volumes). The Institute hosts conferences, fellowships for scholars, seminars, and exhibitions on issues raised by the Archive, including the African American Art Conference in 2004.