An exemplary canvas by American artist Robert Colescott was acquired by the Art Bridges Foundation for $4.5 million at Bonham's Los Angeles on Friday.
Artist Robert Colescott (1925-2009) was born into a biracial family, addressed issues of race and beauty, as seen in Miss Liberty, explored the absence of black men and women as protagonists in American history.
The painting, depicting the iconic image of the Statue of Liberty as an African-American woman, was acquired by a private collector in 1984 and has not been seen in public since, says Amelia Manderscheid, vice president and senior director, postwar and contemporary. art at Bonhams in San Francisco.
Typical of the painter's satirical approach, "Miss Liberty" (1980) is a colorful exploration of American identity, racial equality, and freedom that has been kept in private hands over the 40 years since its creation.
His masterpiece, George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook, 1975, takes on Emanuel Leutze's famous 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware - held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York - reveals its inherent racial bias by omitting African-American narratives from history. The painting sold for $15 million last May at a Sotheby's auction in New York, a record price for the artist, for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson. .
Although Colescott was known for his satirical and cartoonish figurative works, the artist removed the satire and comedy part from Miss Liberty, says Manderscheid. "It made a very hopeful embodiment of racial equality, portraying an African-American woman as the iconic symbol of American freedom," he said. Just four years after the painting was created, in 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first African-American woman to be crowned Miss America.