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Humbert Howard

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Humbert L. Howard (1905/15 - 1990) was active/lived in Pennsylvania, New York.  Humbert Howard is known for Figure, abstract urban landscape.

Biography photo for Humbert L. Howard
 Humbert Howard of Philadelphia, born in 1905, is an important figure among contemporary African-American artists. Howard was educated at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. He was also art director of the Pyramid Club, a popular and respected black cultural center in Philadelphia. His integrationist approach to art broke down traditional boundaries that often had separated black and white artists. As director of the club's art exhibitions, he selected works by both black and white artists for display.

In the late fifties, because of changing politics within the organization, Howard's involvement with the Pyramid Club waned. At that time, he began studies at the Barnes Foundation, which he continued through 1961. The experience had a tremendous impact on him, revealed in the growing exaggeration, distortion, and abstraction of forms that became evident in his work of this period.   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 6004 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 186 auction lots for Humbert Howard (of which 157 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 9 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 7 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by Humbert Howard as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

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.  askART lists Humbert Howard in 0 of its research Essays. Humbert Howard has 28 artist signature examples available in our database.

Similar artists

.  There are 24 similar (related) artists for Humbert Howard available:    Abraham Hankins,  Jane Piper,  Martin Jackson,  Julius Bloch,  Morris Blackburn,  Giovanni Martino,  Frederick James Gill,  Charles Robert Searles,  Antonio Martino,  Frank English,  Joseph Meierhans,  Arthur Meltzer,  Dox Thrash,  Paul Keene Jr,  Robert Moore Kulicke,  Paulette Van Roekens,  Peter Sculthorpe,  Claude F Clark Sr,  Yarnall (Yarnell) Abbott,  Cesare Ricciardi,  Edmund Darch Lewis,  Joseph Brown,  Hobson Lafayette Pittman,  George Sotter



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Facts about Humbert Howard

   Humbert Howard  Born:  1905/15 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died:   1990 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Known for:  Figure, abstract urban landscape

Biography from the Archives of askART

Humbert Howard of Philadelphia, born in 1905, is an important figure among contemporary African-American artists. Howard was educated at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. He was also art director of the Pyramid Club, a popular and respected black cultural center in Philadelphia. His integrationist approach to art broke down traditional boundaries that often had separated black and white artists. As director of the club's art exhibitions, he selected works by both black and white artists for display.

In the late fifties, because of changing politics within the organization, Howard's involvement with the Pyramid Club waned. At that time, he began studies at the Barnes Foundation, which he continued through 1961. The experience had a tremendous impact on him, revealed in the growing exaggeration, distortion, and abstraction of forms that became evident in his work of this period.

Although Howard enjoyed success as an artist, he worked as a mail carrier to "further of my favorite pastimes - eating." By the time he retired in 1971, he had developed a loyal following of collectors and dealers in the Philadelphia area. In the eighties, he became increasingly involved with younger members of the local art scene. Often called the "dean of Philadelphia's black artists," he hosted meetings of the local chapter of the National Conference of Black Artists in his Hamilton Street living room.

At the time of his death in 1990 Humbert Howard had become a mentor to emerging black artists. Ernest Berry, a long time friend and collector of Howard's work, said, "He was not just a painter. He was a person who believed in sharing his feelings with people through his painting. He was the kindest friend I had ever had in the art world."

Mr. Howard's paintings are part of the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art, the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center and the Philadelphia Afro-American Museum.

Source: Karlie Corporation


Biography from Newman Galleries

Humbert Howard was born in Philadelphia in 1915.  He began his studies at Howard University and transferred his senior year to the University of Pennsylvania.  He later studied at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania, and at the International Academy of Arts and Letters in Rome, where he was awarded an honorary degree.

During the 1930's, Howard participated in the Philadelphia Work Progress Administration's Art project (WPA).  While there, he painted a landscape that was one of the two selected for the exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.  He exhibited extensively, showing at: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1950, 1952, and 1953, with a one-man show in 1951; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1954; the Philadelphia Art Alliance, 1958 (one-man); the Philadelphia Sketch Club; the Philadelphia Pyramid Club (one-man); Temple University; the Free Public Library of Philadelphia; Howard University (one-man); the William Penn Memorial Museum, 1970 and 1977; and the International Academy of Arts and Letters in 1970, where he won a Silver Medal.

In 1940, Howard became Director of the Pyramid Club, a prominent African-American cultural center in Philadelphia.  He was also a member of: the Artists Equity Association, the Peale Club, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Fine Arts.  He also taught painting at the Allen's Lane Art Center in Philadelphia.

The artist's work is in numerous public and private collections, including: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and Howard University.

The artist died in 1990.

A retrospective exhibition in honor of Humbert Howard's work was held in 1966 at the Levy Gallery of Arts at the Moore College of Art, Philadelphia.


Artist Review - Humbert L Howard - Studio Gallery

For a 1979 Exhibition at the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia, Dr. Burton Wasserman; Critic, Scholar, Teacher, and Artist, wrote the following:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------" HUMBERT HOWARD, one of the most widely celebrated Painters, is holding forth this month with his latest oils, watercolors and sculpture.""A free-swinging painter who works in the Expressionist tradition, Howard knows how to make a brush seem to fly with apparent abandon while he is actually exerting a carefully disciplined rein over what he does. The net effect of this approach is an art in which colors melt and glow on the picture surfaces with unmeasurable power, richness, and resonance."" To see Howard"s work is to recapture the vision of the eternal child who sees the world without the jaded spoilage that all too often comes to most of us with "Growing Up.""IN A HOWARD painting, the appearance of a human being, the shape of the Sun above a landscape, or the color of the overhead Sky is still a source of Wonder, Discovery, and sheer excitement. To look at his pictures is to become aware of how fortunate people are to have the gift of sight." "The Ultimate reality of Howard's Work is his concentrated feeling for design. What makes this so memorable is the way he unveils the essence of a given subject and then transforms it into a complex of reverberating lines and tones. They will endure for years to come, lasting long after the moments that first stimulated the artist to creative action are lost and gone."


Artist Statement - Humbert L Howard - Studio Gallery

Speaking about his subject matter, Humbert once said:"..I paint the people I know, the places I see, the thing I touch.it's the people and the environment of the cities I love-tall buildings, streets, parks, the dancer, the teen-ager, the stenographer, but I paint them in terms of my culture, times, and personal feelings.."


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