Name Vivian Browne | ||
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Vivian E. Browne (1929–1993) was an American artist recognized for her African American protest paintings.
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Biography
Vivian Browne was born in Laurel, Florida, on April 26, 1929. She spent most of her life in New York City and Kern County, California. She received her Bachelor of Science in 1950 from Hunter College, New York, NY and a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College in 1959. She was invested in her travels across Europe and Africa, also studying at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 1972. Browne worked at Rutgers University in Newark from 1971 to 1992 as a Faculty member of the Arts and Sciences department while continuing as an artist in her own right with shows across the country. Her early painting career was fostered by a scholarship from the New School for Social Research, and a Huntington Hartford Foundation fellowship in 1964 and a fellowship with the MacDowell Colony.
Collections
Browne’s work is housed in public and private collections all over the United States, primarily in New York and California. Most notably her work can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian with the Robert Blackburn (artist) printmaking workshop, MOMA, the Schomburg Center NYC, Chase Manhattan Bank the John Cotton Dana Library, the Hatch-Billops Collection, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, The New York Public Library and the Harry Belafonte & Rosa Parks private collections. Browne is included in the Center for the Women in the Arts and Humanities virtual exhibit at Rutgers University.
Activism
Many of Browne’s works, particularly those from the 1960s, showcase her dissatisfaction with the struggles of growing up as a disenfranchised black woman. “Black art is political. If it’s not political, it’s not black art”. While she fought for equality, she was not optimistic about attitudes changing soon, and self categorized her look at art into two categories. “When I am political, I am painting as a black or as a woman or both. Otherwise, I am just a member of the human race”. She taught the History of Black Art at Rutgers, and served as chair of the department from 1975-1978. Browne contributed to, and served as an advisor to HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics.
Major Achievements
In addition to serving as a professor and department chair at Rutgers, Browne was honored most notably for her political works showcasing her life as a black woman. She served as a Fulbright panelist in 1990, and spent much of her time in the 70s and 80s in exhibit curation and symposia. Her many experiences as a panelist include the 1971 NYC’s Art Student’s League’s Symposium on Afro-American Art, the 1973, 1974 and 1976 National Conference of Artists and the NEA amongst others. She was also part of the Soho20 Chelsea, a Broome Street gallery. Additionally, she has been featured in over 80 group and solo exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Orlando Gallery and the Black Art Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.
Publications
Awards
Vivian Browne was the recipient of multiple awards throughout her life.