Art historian Richard Powell describes Girl in a Red Dress as an exemplary portrayal of the "New Negro" woman who is "defiantly black, beautiful, and feminine, yet also unsettled, mysterious, and utterly modern." Alston, a foundational figure of the Harlem Renaissance, depicts the young woman in a way that embodies the artist’s synthesis of African aesthetics (in this case resonant with Fang reliquary busts) and modernist pictorial flatness in portrayals of African American subjects. Her graceful, elongated neck and sculpturally rendered face, combined with stylized modern attire and a contemplative gaze to the side, convey an enigmatic affect in which the unnamed sitter is seemingly oblivious to the viewer. Representations such as this one manifest the Harlem Renaissance philosopher Alain Locke’s exhortation that "art must discover and reveal the beauty which prejudice and caricature have overlaid."
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Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): Charles / Alston / '34
the artist, New York (1934–d. 1977; his estate, from 1977; to Tibbs); [Thurlow E. Tibbs Jr., Washington, D.C., until ca. 1990s; sold ca. 1990s to Kelley]; Harmon and Harriet Kelley (ca. 1990s–2021; sold to MMA)
New York. Harlem Music and Art Center. "Painting and Sculpture Exhibition," March 1937.
Chicago. Tanner Art Galleries. "Exhibition of the Art of the American Negro (1851 to 1940)," July 4–September 2, 1940, no. 63 (as "Girl in Red Dress").
Hanover, N.H. Hood Museum of Art. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," January 28–March 12, 1989, no. 16.
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Vassar College Art Gallery. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," April 1–May 14, 1989, no. 16.
Charlotte, N.C. Afro-American Cultural Center. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," June 3–July 16, 1989, no. 16.
Milwaukee. Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," August 12–September 24, 1989, no. 16.
Brookville, N.Y. Hillwood Art Gallery. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," October 7–November 19, 1989, no. 16.
San Antonio. Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," December 9, 1989–January 21, 1990, no. 16.
Las Vegas. Nevada Institute of Contemporary Art. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," February 10–March 25, 1990, no. 16.
Grinnell, Iowa. Grinnell College. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," April 7–May 21, 1990, no. 16.
New York. Kenkeleba Gallery. "Charles Alston: Artist and Teacher," May 13–July 1, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," June 16–July 29, 1990, no. 16.
Little Rock. Arkansas Arts Center. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," August 18–September 30, 1990, no. 16.
Columbia, Mo. Museum of Art and Archaeology. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," October 20–December 2, 1990, no. 16.
Fort Myers, Fla. Edison Community College Gallery. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," January 4–February 9, 1991, no. 16.
Lexington. University of Kentucky Art Museum. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," February 23–April 7, 1991, no. 16.
Chicago. Terra Foundation for American Art. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," April 27–June 9, 1991, no. 16.
Savannah, Ga. Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," June 29–August 11, 1991, no. 16.
Fort Wayne, Tex. Fort Wayne Art School and Museum. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," August 31–October 13, 1991, no. 16.
Gainesville, Fla. Santa Fe Junior College. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," January 11–February 23, 1992, no. 16.
Camden, N.J. Stedman Art Gallery, Rutgers University. "African-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection," March 14–April 26, 1992, no. 16.
London. Hayward Gallery. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," June 19–August 17, 1997, no. 1 (lent by Harmon and Harriet Kelley).
Bristol, England. Arnolfini. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," September 6–October 19, 1997, no. 1.
Coventry, England. Mead Gallery, University of Warwick. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," November 1–December 6, 1997, no. 1.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," January 17–March 15, 1998, no. 1.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," April 11–June 22, 1998, no. 1.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," July 26–October 19, 1998, no. 1.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance," November 22, 1998–February 14, 1999, no. 1.
San Antonio. McNay Art Museum. "Something to Say: The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art," February 8–May 6, 2018, unnumbered cat.
New York. Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. "Posing Modernity: the Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today," October 24, 2018–February 10, 2019, unnumbered cat. (back cover).
Richard J. Powell inAfrican-American Artists 1880–1987: Selections from the Evans-Tibbs Collection. Exh. cat., Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Washington, D.C., 1989, pp. 50, 115, no. 16, fig. 24 (color) and ill. p. 40 (color detail).
Helen A. Harrison. "Displaying Works of Black Pioneers." New York Times (October 29, 1989), p. LI24.
Karin Lipson. "African-American art: 107 Years' Work." Newsday (October 27, 1989), p. B25.
Edward J. Sozanski. "At Camden, a Century of Works by African Americans." Philadelphia Inquirer (March 27, 1992), p. 28.
Richard J. Powell inRhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London. Berkeley, 1997, pp. 19, 178, no. 1, ill. p. 143 (color).
Esther Iverem. "The Body Eclectic: Harlem's New Way of Seeing Things." Washington Post (April 11, 1998), pp. B1–B2.
Jacqueline Francis. "Modern Art, 'Racial Art': The Work of Malvin Gray Johnson and the Challenges of Painting, 1928–1934." PhD diss., Emory University, 2000, pp. 107, 110, fig. 89, dates it about 1934.
Bridget R. Cooks. "Seen and Not Seen: A History of Black Representation and Self-Representation in Art Exhibitions in the United States, 1893–1998." PhD diss., University of Rochester, 2001, pp. 189–90, fig. 4.14.
Jacqueline Francis. "Commentary: Writing African American Art History." American Art 17 (Spring 2003), ill. p. 3 (color).
Mary Ann Calo. Distinction and Denial: Race, Nation, and the Critical Construction of the African American Artist, 1920–40. Ann Arbor, 2007, ill. front cover (color).
Alvia J. Wardlaw. Charles Alston. San Francisco, 2007, pp. 20–21.
Jacqueline Francis. Making Race: Modernism and "Racial Art" in America. Seattle, 2012, p. 103, fig. 4.16.
Denise Murrell. Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today. Exh. cat., Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. New York, 2018, pp. 121–22, fig. 120 (color) and ill. back cover (color).
Lowery S. Sims. Something to Say: The McNay Presents 100 Years of African American Art. Exh. cat., McNay Art Museum. San Antonio, 2018, pp. 8, 11, ill. front cover (color).
Roberta Smith. "The Faces of an Enlightened Age." New York Times (November 2, 2018), p. C24, ill.
Emmelyn Butterfield-Rosen. "The Modern Woman." Artforum 58 (October 2019), p. 191, ill. p. 192 (color).
Karen Wilkin. "At the Galleries." Hudson Review 72 (Spring 2019), p. 103.
Denise Murrell in "What's in a Face?" Perspectives. Online resource [metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles], July 22, 2021, ill. (color).
Denise Murrell inThe Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Ed. Denise Murrell. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2024, pp. 16–17, 18, fig. 1 (color, detail), colorpl. 29.
Charles Henry Alston (American, Charlotte, North Carolina 1907–1977 New York)
1935–43
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