Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist

(Los Angeles—September 30, 2014) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist, the first retrospective of the artist to travel to the West Coast. Comprising approximately 45 paintings, Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist is a full-scale survey of one of the most important Harlem Renaissance artists active outside of New York City. The exhibition surveys Motley’s entire career—including periods the artist spent in Chicago, Paris, and Mexico—and presents the painter’s visual examination of African American culture during the Jazz Age, a time when society and attitudes were shifting.

"This is a rare opportunity for Los Angeles audiences to see the lively and incisive paintings of Archibald Motley," said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. "Many of these paintings belong to private collections, or have never traveled to Los Angeles before. We are glad to present them to the public in this exhibition."

Image credits:

Archibald J. Motley Jr., Black Belt, 1934, Collection of the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia © Valerie Gerrard Browne

Archibald J. Motley Jr., Mending Socks, 1924, Collection of the Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill © Valerie Gerrard Browne

Archibald J. Motley Jr., Barbecue, c. 1934, Collection of the Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, DC © Valerie Gerrard Browne

Archibald J. Motley Jr., Barbecue, 1960, Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrard Browne, Image courtesy of the Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois © Valerie Gerrard Browne

Exhibition: Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist On View: October 19, 2014–February 1, 2015 Location: BCAM, Level 3