Laura Wheeler Waring - Girl in Pink Dress, ca. 1927.

Oil on canvas

Thursdays are dedicated to honoring artists who have passed away but whose contributions to the art world remain significant. Their impact should never be forgotten.

Girl in Pink Dress, ca. 1927. Laura Wheeler Waring. Oil on canvas. Collection of Roberta Graves. © Laura Wheeler Waring.

Laura Wheeler Waring (1887 - 1948)

Painter and educator Laura Wheeler Waring was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1887.  The fourth child of six born to Reverend Robert Foster and Mary Wheeler, Laura was unusual in some respects because she had the advantage of superior education and middle and upper-class associations. -Blackpast.org

Waring’s portrayals of Black women across the social spectrum often transcended class norms and disrupted prevalent stereotypes. Here, her young sitter is presented as an icon of the Jazz Age, with the sleek, bobbed coiffure and elegant drop-waisted flapper dress—exquisitely detailed and with nuanced tonal variations—that are emblematic of the period. The artist’s skillful portraits of Black figures drew praise from an initially skeptical Alain Locke, who acknowledged the modernity of her choice of subject. Waring won first prize in the Harmon Foundation’s 1927 exhibition, solidifying her stature as the foremost Black female portrait painter working at the heart of the New Negro movement. - Exhibition wall text

This piece and more art by the artist are featured in The Met Museum’s exhibit, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. On view now until July 28th.