Black Is Beautiful: A Public Domain Print Shop Special Collection

Posted byKadie PangburnPosted inArt, Public Domain Print Shop, Special CollectionsTags:, , ,

One of the most difficult aspects of running The Public Domain Print Shop is ensuring there are a diverse array of human beings represented in the free vintage art downloads curated there.

One of the reasons this is so challenging is that (by and large) we’re limited to only utilizing works in the public domain, meaning, in general, works of art created in or prior to 1927. You can probably imagine how supportive the artworld was to POC artists, or of art depicting POC individuals with any degree of dignity and respect at that time.

Does that mean there were no paintings of POC people or POC artists working and creating art at that time? Not at all, of course there were POC artists creating beautiful pieces of art.

The problem is that the white western art world didn’t care. And because they didn’t care, those pieces of art weren’t collected by archives and museums. Which in turn means they weren’t preserved and protected. So many of these works of art have either been lost to history, destroyed, or are sitting in a basement somewhere with no one to care about digitizing them for the world to see.

Of the underrepresented POC individuals, Black individuals have consistently been ignored as subjects, white-washed, misrepresented, or vilified by the white european controlled art world. With Black women in particular being one of the most underrepresented figures in western art history.

With this in mind, over the past year, I’ve been working to curate a gallery of free, high resolution public domain artwork that represents Black individuals with dignity and respect. It is my hope to keep growing this collection over time as I discover additional pieces of work.

If you are interested in learning more about this collection, the representation of Black bodies in Western Art and why I chose to alter the titles of several of these works, please be sure and read the collection notes at the bottom of this post.

Due to the nature of this drop, in lieu of requesting donations towards supporting the Public Domain Print Shop, I would encourage you to send any donations to The National Museum of African American History and Culture
Click Here To Donate & Support The National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Black Is Beautiful Free Vintage Art Collection

Free vintage art downloads highlighting the beauty and presence of of black bodies in western art throughout history.

Vintage Paintings

Hans Johan Frederik Berg “Portrait of a young man”
Henry Perronet Briggs “Ira Aldridge as Othello”
William Lindsay Windus “The Black Boy”
Joseph Stocker “Bildnis eines Orientalen”
Jan Jansz Mostaert “Portrait of an African Man (Christophle le More?)”
Jacques Amans “Creole in a Red Headdress”
Henry Ossawa Tanner “Mother of Henry O. Tanner”
Egge Sturm-Skrla “Männerporträt (Male Portrait)”
Kees van Dongen “Lucie and Her Partner”
William Etty “Study of a Black Boy”
George DeBaptiste “Toussaint L’Ouverture”
Eastman Johnson “The Lord Is My Shepherd”
Thomas Waterman Wood “Market Woman”
Charles E. Weir “The Wood Sawyer”
Henri Regnault “A Chief of Abyssinia”
Théodore Géricault “Portrait of a Black Man”
Louis Schultze “Painting Of Dred Scott”
Eastman Johnson “Dinah”
Thomas Eakins “The Banjo Player”
Robert Lee MacCameron “Two musicians”
Charles Wilson Peale “Mamadou Yarrow”
William Henry Huddle “Old Black Man”
Alice Pike Barney “Head of a Black Boy”
Unknown “Frederick Douglass”
Govert Flinck “A Young Archer”
Gaspar de Crayer “Head of a young Moor”
François-Auguste Biard “Bust-Length Study of a Man”
Gerard Dou “Head of an African”
Thomas Eakins “Female Model”
Govaert Flinck “Head of a Black Man”
Unknown “Diego Bemba, Servant at Dom Miguel de Castro”
Unknown “Dom Miguel de Castro Emissary of Soyo”
Unknown “Pedro Sunda Servant at Dom Miguel de Castro”
Emile-Charles Dameron “Portrait Of A Young Boy”
Diego Velázquez “Juan de Pareja”
Simon Maris “Isabella”
Franz Xaver Kosler “An Arab”
Adolphe Yvon “Mademoiselle S’Nabou”
Josep Tapiró i Baró “Stage in Tangier”
Franz Xaver Kosler_African Beauty In White
Franz Xaver Kosler “Orientalischer Portraitkopf”
Laura Wheeler Waring “Anna Washington Derry”
Tadeusz Makowski “Study of a nude (Female half-nude)”
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux “Femme nue (étude)”
Édouard Manet “Portrait of Laure”
Marie Müller “Herrenporträt”
Auguste Boulard The Elder “Woman and Child (Silence)”
Adolph Tidemand “Portrait of a young man”
Morris Shulman “The Writing Lesson”
Edvard Munch “Sultan Abdul Karem With Green Scarf”
René Piot “The Man With The Red Turban”
William H. Johnson “Minnie”
William H. Johnson “Portrait Study, No. 16”
Leo Putz “Tanzende schwarze Frauen”
Hanns Sprung “Afrikaner mit weißem Gewand”
William H. Johnson “Young Pastry Cook”
Leo Putz “In the Seraglio”
Astrid Holm “Rose Covers The Table”
Edvard Munch “Abdul Karim in a Green Coat”
Émile Vernet-Lecomte “Portrait of a black woman”
Leo Diet “Knabenportrait”
William H. Johnson “Little Girl”
William H. Johnson “Portrait”
Leopold Carl Müller “Ein Nubier (A Nubian)”
William H. Johnson “Girl in a Green Dress (Portrait Study No. 22)”
Eugène Delacroix “Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban”
Frédéric Bazille “Young Woman with Peonies”
Sergey Yurievich Sudeikin “Fixing Her Hair”
Victor Laredo “On the Beach”
Henry Ossawa Tanner “Portrait of the Artist’s Mother”
Winslow Homer “Sketch of a Cottage Yard”
Diego Velázquez “Kitchen Scene”
Félix Vallotton “Aïcha”
“Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” Edgar Degas
Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala “Platonic Love”
Marie-Gabriel Biessy “Portrait of a young African”
Peter Paul Rubens “Four Studies of a Head of a Moor”
Eastman Johnson “Southern Courtship”

Vintage Sketches, Drawings & Illustrations

Blanche Grambs “Portrait”
William H. Johnson”Standing Female Nude in Profile, Recto”
Blanche Grambs “Portrait”
Zolo Palugyay “Akt”
Blanche Grambs “Seated Woman with Hat at Studio”
Mortimer Borne “Alleyne”
Elizabeth Olds “Harlem WPA Street Dance”
Riva Helfond “Sleeping Girl”
William H. Johnson “Female Nude Leaning on Right Arm”
Dayton Brandfield “The Savoy”
Elizabeth Olds “WPA Rhythm Band”
Lillian Richter Reynolds “Spirituals”
Winold Reiss “Paul Robeson”
Dante Gabriel Rossetti “Head of a Young Woman”
Winold Reiss “Charles Spurgeon Johnson”
Saul Kovner “Sleepy Time Down South”
Winold Reiss “Countee Cullen”
Charles Henry Alston “Harlem Street Scene”
Anders Zorn “Standing Woman”
Jan de Visscher “Boogschutter (archer)”
Cornelis van Dalen “Portrait of an African woman with pearl necklace”
Anders Zorn “Sitting Woman”
Jean Bernard “Portret van een zwarte man”
Antonio Carracci “Portret van een zwarte jongen”
Nan Lurie “Old Tales”
Charles Dana Gibson “Well-Dressed Woman”
Nan Lurie “In the Park”
Fred Carlo “Portrait”
Dox Thrash “Played Out”
Dox Thrash “Jenny”
Thomas Hovenden “Head Of A Boy”
Mathilde de Cordoba “Young Man Drawing”
Rembrandt van Rijn “Reclining Female Nude”
Albert Sterner “Head of a young black man”
Auguste Danse “Portrait of an unknown man”
Joseph Ducreux “Portrait of a Gentleman”

Collection Notes

Public Domain Vs. Personal Use Only

Please be aware that several of the images in this gallery are NOT in the public domain, however the museum has graciously provided high resolution digital downloads of the files for PERSONAL USE ONLY. Meaning you are free to print the art off to display in your own home, or gift to a friend for example, but you are not allowed to download the art and then sell the image to someone. For clarity, I’ve highlighted the titles of these images for you.

Slavery, Orientalism & Black Bodies In Western Art

As a note in regards to western art history and the representation of Black bodies that I think is worth mentioning here, during the late 1800s there was a widespread craze for what has become dubbed as “orientalism” and painters who could produce “exotic” works of art were suddenly in high demand. This lead to a drastic uptick in the number of paintings representing Black bodies, however these Black individuals were often garbed in over the top “oriental” outfits that would please the white western art market that was captivated by seeing bright jewel tones against dark skin. You can see the overtones of this artistic movement in some of the images in this collection.

Additionally, while there is little historical documentation as to who the sitters were for many of these works of art, I think it is important to note that many of the individuals represented in the artwork featured in this collection were likely slaves who were forced to model for these paintings. Rather than glorifying the artists, or those who enslaved these individuals, it is my hope that this collection can instead empower the sitters and uplift their voices and the stories they have to tell us.

Learn More About Black Bodies In Western Art

This is an extremely complex subject and I am not an expert in this field, so if you are interested in learning more about how black bodies have been represented historically in western art, I encourage you to explore these resources from The National Gallery of Art & The Image of Black in Western Art.

The Image of the Black in Western Art – Part One
The Image of the Black in Western Art – Part Two
The Image of the Black in Western Art – Part Three

Alterations To Artwork Titles / Trigger Warning

While I typically dislike changing or removing the title of a work of art, the fact of the matter is that many images of Black individuals were originally given titles utilizing racist language. Those words have been updated for this collection in an effort to not perpetuate the existence of racist terminology because words matter. However, please be aware that when navigating to the museum archive that houses the image files, you may be confronted with the original outdated language used in the original title.

I understand that opinions on whether or not images with these titles should even be included in a gallery like this differ, however it is my belief that the human beings represented in these portraits are important, their stories are important, hanging their images on our walls with pride is important and is a way of honoring these individuals with the dignity that was originally stolen from them during their lifetime.

Privilege Check

I want to be the first to note here that as a white woman presenting this collection, I may have overlooked potentially problematic points. And while I did my best and ensured this collection was audited by a panel of POC individuals before being posted, I welcome any feedback you might have on how to improve the collection for the future.

Special Thanks

I would like to extend a special thank you to @nestwithjess, @the_kurtz_home, @pinchplateparty, and @buildingbradley for generously volunteering their time, energy, and thoughtfulness to audit and review this collection for me. Your feedback was invaluable. In addition, I would also like to thank Adam Wilkerson and my husband Joe Pangburn for lending their expertise and feedback to this collection as well.

The images in this gallery are low resolution preview images only and therefore not suitable for printing, to download a HIGH RESOLUTION FILE of any of the images below for free, simply click on the desired image and you will be taken to the digital gallery archive where that image is hosted. Once there, you will be able to download a high-resolution file of your image to print.

If you are interested in learning more about The Public Domain Print Shop and how you can use artwork in the Public Domain to decorate your home FOR FREE click here to read a previous blog post where I talk all about about it!

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5 thoughts on “Black Is Beautiful: A Public Domain Print Shop Special Collection”

  2. Pingback: Coastal Grandmother’s Cottage Primary Suite Reveal - PrepFord Wife

  5. Thank you for this incredible collection. I am excited to adorn my home with a few of these masterful pieces! I appreciate your language when honoring these works and acknowledging your privilege.

    Reply

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