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digital archive - JOHN BIGGERS

John Biggers (1924 - 2001) did not intentionally set out to become an artist. When he enrolled at the Hampton Institute (now University) in Virginia in 1941, his goal was to study the trades and become a plumber. A course in art with Viktor Lowenfeld changed all that. Lowenfeld, a refugee from European Nazism in the segregated southern United States, encouraged his students to explore and preserve the culture of their own people. Biggers also studied under Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett, inspiring him to become an artist dedicated to depicting the lives of African-American people. Several trips to Africa brought to Biggers' work a broader sense of the black experience, as he began combining African and American symbology.

These prints are illustrations for the book Our Grandmothers, with text by Maya Angelou. Please scroll down the page for more information with links about the artist and the book these illlustrations were commissioned for.

			Illustrations from the book: OUR GRANDMOTHERS text by Maya Angelou 1994 lithographs 24"h x 18"w Print folio edition of 61 Angelou's poem, I Shall Not Be Moved, illustrated at her request with five original lithographs by John Biggers. The book is printed on a mould-made Arches paper by Bruce Porter at the Trestle Editions studio, text printed by Dan Keleher at the Wild Carrot Letterpress. Edition of 400, signed by Angelou and Biggers. The books are hand bound in red Japanese linen in a matching linen covered box. Published by the Limited Editions Club, New York, this is one of the largest-format books (17-3/4" x 22") issued by the club

LINKS

Aunt Dicey Tales
John Biggers' drawings for the folktale
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu

The Murals of John Biggers
Examining the artists' work in Texas
www.coe.uh.edu

The Web of Life: The Art of John Biggers
An online exhibition from the Getty Museum
www.getty.edu/artsednet/resources/Biggers

Bringing African Influences to Art
John Biggers in the African American Registry
www.aaregistry,com

A Continent Without Borders
Africa's influence on African American artists
www.tfaoi.com