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Artwork Details
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Title:"O Sing a New Song"
Artist:Charles Clarence Dawson (American, Brunswick, Georgia 1889–1981 New Hope, Pennsylvania)
Date:ca. 1933
Medium:Color lithograph
Dimensions:22 1/4 in. × 14 in. (56.5 × 35.6 cm)
Classification:Prints
Credit Line:Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
Object Number:1999.529.58
Inscription: Signed (right of center, printed in image): Charles C. Dawson
[Noah Hoffman, until 1993; sold on April 1, 1993 to Williams]; Reba and Dave Williams, New York (1993–99; their gift to MMA)
Newark Museum, held jointly at the Equitable Gallery, New York. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," December 10, 1992–February 28, 1993, no. 28.
Long Beach Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," June 4–August 8, 1993, no. 28.
Cambridge, England. Fitzwilliam Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," October 5–December 19, 1993, no. 28.
Albany. New York State Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 5–March 13, 1994, no. 28.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," April 7–June 12, 1994, no. 28.
Louisville. Speed Art Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," July 12–September 4, 1994, no. 28.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," October 9–December 4, 1994, no. 28.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 4–February 26, 1995, no. 28.
Charleston. Gibbes Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," March 26–May 21, 1995, no. 28.
Miami Beach. Bass Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," June 18–August 13, 1995, no. 28.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," September 10–November 5, 1995, no. 28.
Mobile, Ala. Fine Arts Museum of the South. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," December 3, 1995–January 28, 1996, no. 28.
Brooklyn Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," February 25–April 22, 1996, no. 28.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," May 17–July 14, 1996, no. 28.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," August 9–October 6, 1996, no. 28.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," November 1, 1996–January 2, 1997, no. 28.
Atlanta. High Museum of Art. "Alone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–1940s by African-American Artists from the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams," January 31–March 30, 1997, no. 28.
Chicago Cultural Center. "African American Designers in Chicago: Art, Commerce and the Politics of Race," October 27, 2018–March 3, 2019, unnum. brochure (fig. 7).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now," November 17, 2024–February 17, 2025, unnumbered cat. (pl. 105; as "O, Sing a New Song," 1934).
"History in Music." Chicago Tribune (July 22, 1934), p. 14, ill.
Negro Artists: An Illustrated Review of Their Achievements. Including Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Malvin Gray Johnson and Sculptures by Richmond Barthé and Sargent Johnson. Exh. cat., Harmon Foundation in cooperation with the Delphic Studios. New York, 1935, pp. 45–46.
Reba and Dave Williams inAlone in a Crowd: Prints of the 1930s–40s by African-American Artists; From the Collection of Reba and Dave Williams. Exh. cat., Newark Museum. New York, 1993, pp. 28–29, 48, no. 28, fig. 19 (color).
Chris Dingwall. African American Designers in Chicago: Art, Commerce and the Politics of Race. Exh. brochure, Chicago Cultural Center. Chicago, 2018, unpaginated, fig. 7 (color), dates it 1934 and notes this poster was created for "'O Sing a New Song,' a revue of contemporary African American music held on the grounds of the Century of Progress exhibition in 1934".
Akili Tommasino. Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2024, pp. 26, 251, colorpl. 105.
Elizabeth Catlett (American and Mexican, Washington, D.C. 1915–2012 Cuernavaca)
1947
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