WELCOME to
Samuel's Gallery
Oakland, California
Offering fine art & reproductions. Showcasing the finest collection
of African American art.
Established in 1983.
OUR history
In 1979, I found myself searching for art that reflected positive images of African Americans. Few and far between, I collected the images that were available. In an effort to provide an outlet for African American artists' work, and to provide that work to a broad cross-section of the African American community, I opened Samuel's Gallery in 1983. My intention was to contribute to the visual and cultural enrichment of our communities, and to promote the premise that the African American artist is important to the American culture.
For the past quarter century, we've experienced an era that provided more accessibility to anyone who desired to purchase it, exceeding even that of the famed Harlem Renaissance period of the early 1900's. This "New Renaissance in African American Art" has been the broadest African American art movement in scope as it has enabled those of every socio-economic status to afford the purchase of these works through the availability of reasonably priced reproductions.
My belief continues to be that African American art enriches the soul and nurtures the mind and spirit, serving to uplift our people by way of an ongoing visual experience.
VENUES & events
Some of the art from our collection is currently being sold at Stoneridge Gallery _ 424 - 2nd Street, in Oakland, CA.
Currently, we don't have any events scheduled. If you'd like to be notified about upcoming events, go to our contacts page and get on our list.
PRIVATE showings
Samuel's Gallery offers private showings by appointment only.
Call 510-452-2059 to schedule an appointment.
TELEPHONE: 510.452.2059
E-MAIL: samuel_samuelsgallery.com
The biographical sketches of twenty-four outstanding Negroes are included in this collection. While their achievements are in different fields, these people all have one thing in common; in order to make progress they had to fight relentlessly against the patterns of American segregation and discrimination, which placed many roadblocks in their path.
In addition to enriching the culture and heritage of America, the achievements of these people left footprints to huide an increasing number of young American Negroes through the devious psychological labrynth of self-rejections and despair, toward self-acceptance and fulfillment of their own futures.
The great contributions to America's heritage made by the persons described in these biographies indicate a change. These distinguished men and women, their colleagues and a growing number of white Americans will work toward better patterns in race relations.
Biographical sketches include: James Baldwin, Edward Brooke, Dr. Ralph Bunche, The Honorable Edward R. Dudley, John Hope Franklin, Althea Gibson, William Henry Hastie, Lena Horne, Langston Hughes, John Harold Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jacob Lawrence, Thurgood Marshall, Constance B. Motley, Gordon Parks, Sidney Portier, Leontyne Price, Philip Randolph, Jack Roosevelt Robinson, Carl T. Rowan, Asa T. Spaulding, Robert Cliftion Weaver, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young.
Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, brought an end to the inhuman system of bondage, known as slavery, in the United States. As African American slaves heard the word, thousands left their masters behind to enjoy the fresh air of freedom. Lincoln’s historic message was correctly calculated to strike a death blow to the rebellion of the southern slave states. Without the necessary labor of its slaves, the South could no longer count upon enough food, clothing and other materials for its existence. Slave owners long feared an African American army fighting against them in their homeland.
The Emancipation Proclamation began an era of historic change and opportunity for Africans in America. In the fifteen years after the end of slavery, Americans, black and white, joined together to attempt to remake our society into a nation of equality and freedom for all. After African Americans played a key military role in the defeat of the South, the Reconstruction became the most hopeful of social experiments. These engravings show the immense physical and spiritual struggle of African Americans to obtain the promise of dignity and freedom inherent in American Citizenship.
But Emancipation, and Reconstruction did not, in fact, bring about equality for African Americans. Nor did it protect the bondspeople from many southerners who hoped to legislate, indirectly, African Americans back into bondage via the so-called “Black Codes”. Only the direct involvement of African Americans in political decision making could serve to forestall the type of neo-slavery, which began to be instituted after the Civil War, and the passage of the 13th Amendment.
African Americans anticipated that political participation would insure them a place in the economic futures of the new nation. Men and women in tattered rags, persons displaced by the ravages of war, soldiers who had fought for a reconstructed society and previously educated free blacks anxious to put their knowledge to use, all believed that a new day was coming. For the masses of black folk, their political aspirations and faith in the political process hinged on guarantees of protection under the law, education for their children, and, above all else, the promise of “forty acres and a mule”.
The emotional and spiritual feelings inspired by America’s attempt to remake its society into a just and equal one are reflected in the engravings included in this exhibition. The Civil War and its aftermath, Reconstruction, are among the first important American events to have enjoyed close, daily coverage by the media. Harper’s Weekly, the source of these images, began just four years before the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. From its inception in 1857, Harpers became famous for its magnificent illustrations of people, places and events. Now, the Civil War, and the battle by African Americans for equality, gave Harpers Weekly, and other similar magazines, such as Frank Leslies, and the Illustrated London Times, the opportunity to cover a great human drama. Their success allows us today to study the moments of the American past, when progressive Americans worked together to try to create a new and better nation. These images provide an inspiration for ongoing struggles for equality and justice.
Taken from commentary written by historians, Graham R. Hodges of New York University, and Margaret Washington Creel, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
William Henry Hastie
Sidney Poitier
John Harold Johnson
Edward R. Dudley
Thurgood Marshall
Constance Baker Motley
Dr. Ralph J. Bunche
Jacob Lawrence
James Baldwin
A. Philip Randolph
Althea Gibson
John Hope Franklin
Carl T. Rowan
Leontyne Price
Whitney M. Young, Jr.
Roy Wilkins
Langston Hughes
Lena Horne
Edward W. Brooke
Asa T. Spaulding
Jack R. Robinson
Robert C. Weaver
Gordon Parks
