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The Arts The New York Times [[image]] Craig Stafford for The New York Times Harmon and Harriet Kelly with Edward Mitchell Bannister's "Untitled Landscape" (ca 1885). Collecting Works by Black Artists, Blacks Add Detail to Their Heritage By STEVEN A. HOLMES WASHINGTON, May 27 - As they walked through an exhibition of works by black artists at the San Antonio Museum eight years ago, Harmon and Harriet Kelly were hit by two powerful but conflicting emotions. As blacks, they felt their pride soar over the works of artists like Roscoe O. Tanner and Elizabeth Catlett. At the same time, they felt a sense of shame. These were beautiful and arresting works, yet the Kelleys had never even heard of most of the artists. "We really felt embarrassed," Mrs. Kelley recalled recently. "It was like we had missed out on a whole part of our culture." The couple vowed that their two daughters, then in high school and elementary school, would not be as ignorant of their heritage. So, with a purpose, the Kelleys began buying original works by black artists: Edward Mitchell Bannister, Robert Scott Duncanson, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and others. Today they have one of the largest private collections in the country - more than 150 paintings - of works by black artists. Many of them are now on display here at the Arts and Industry Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibition, which continues until the end of July, is sponsored by the National African-American Museum Project, a group established by the Smithsonian while it awaits Congressional approval for the construction of an African-American Museum. The show includes portraits of the white gentry by free blacks of the 19th century, landscapes by black proteges of the Hudson River School, works by painters of the Harlem Renaissance and other artists of the 1920's and by Work Projects Administration painters of the 1930's. There are modernists, Cubists and folk artists, some with no formal training. In all, 122 works from the Kelleys' collection are on view. The collection "is one of the finest that has been assembled, tracing the history of African-American art," said David Driskell, a professor of art history at the University of Maryland and a consultant to collectors of works by black American artists. Mr. Driskell and other experts said they were impressed by the Kelleys' ability to put such a collection together in a relatively short time. And while earning a comfortable living as an obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Kelley is not rich. "My husband works hard, but we are not old money," Mrs. Kelley said. The Kelleys, who live in San Antonio, are symptomatic of a larger phenomenon: the expansion of the black middle class. Its continued emphasis on black cultural awareness has meant that increasingly art by blacks is being collected by blacks, and black artists are being supported by black people. "There are more and more black professionals like us who want to educate their children and themselves about their heritage," Mrs. Kelley said. "And it's a very, very rich heritage." At first, the Kelleys were hampered not only by their financial resources, but also by a limited knowledge of art. "Not only were we not familiar with African-American artists, we were not familiar with any art at the time," Mrs. Kelley said. "When you were in college, you didn't mention to your parents that you wanted to take art history courses. They didn't understand. They just wanted you to take courses that would help you get a job." The Kelleys engaged Thurlow Tibbs, an art dealer here, whom they found through the Art Dealers Association of America. "He virtually led us by the hand," Mrs. Kelley said. "Thurlow initially made suggestions and recommendations. We relied on his judgment at first. But as we became more comfortable and secure, we made more decisions on our own." The Kelleys pored over art books, attended lectures and built their own library of catalogues and Continued on Page 17
