MS01.01.01 - Box 02 - Folder 05 - General Correspondencce, 1978, Part 2

TALLADEGA COLLEGE TALLADEGA, ALABAMA 35160

DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

January 11, 1978

Mr. David C. Driskell [ADDRESS REDACTED]

Dear Mr. Driskell:

Enclosed is the announcement for a up-coming show in Berkley, California. This is some proof that despite of being in a rut (smile) your former student is making some progress. To aid in my progress, I would appreciate your comments on my work, assuming they are favorable. I would like to use them on a brochure that I'm preparing. Prince Rivers said that you had had the opportunity to observe some of my pieces at his home in Maryland.

I was very sadden to hear of Hans Bhalla death. I was very glad to hear that you had donated some paintings to Talladega College as a memorium to him. If there is anything that I can do to help with the show, please let me know. Let me hear from you sometime. Fondest regards to you and your family.

Sincerely,

/S/ Arthur L. Bacon

P.S. Can I afford one of your paintings?

Enclosure

[EMBOSSED LETTERHEAD BOTTOM OF LETTER]

[LOGO OF UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND]

FOUNDED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION

[LEFT SIDE IMAGE OF ELDERLY WOMAN]

Signed by Art Zacon

The ART of ARTHUR BACON

sponsored jointly by the Departments of Afro-American Studies, Biochemistry and Nutritional Sciences

The Faculty Club University of California January 15 - 28, 1978

The above named departments invite you to an exhibition of ink washes by Arthur Bacon, Professor of Biology, Talladega College, Alabama. Professor Bacon is head of the Division of Biology at Talladega College and is well known for his outstanding efforts to improve the opportunities for black students to develop careers in biology and medicine.

He has developed an early amateur interest in art to where he is one of the most widely known depictors of the rural South. His work has been exhibited throughout the South and at one man shows in New York City.

When asked about his medium he says "Having experimented with various methods I found that the wash technique provided an effective means of portraying the people, places and things of the South. Expression and feeling can be conveyed without the interference of color."

Reception: Sunday, January 15, 1978 6-8 P.M.

January 12, 1978

Mr. Charles Fleischmann

Dear Mr. Fleischmann:

During the period of my tenure as chairman of the Department of Art at Fisk University, I had the pleasure of serving several museums as advisor on the arts and as guest curator for the Bicentennial Exhibition of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art called "Two Centuries of Black American Art." I used a number of works by Robert S. Duncanson in that exhibition and I shall continue my research on Mr. Duncanson as I consider him a major American painter. However, more recently, I have assumed the position of Curator of the Aaron Douglas Collection in the American Missionary Association Museum Collaborative, a program which administers art collections and exhibition programs in six predominantly black colleges in the south as well as provide advisory services for the Frederick Douglass Institute of History at the Museum of African Art.

My reason for writing to you is to ask your careful consideration of a request of purchase of your painting, "Forest Landscape" by Mr. Duncanson, which will be coming to you from Mr. Edward Shein. Mr. Shein's request of purchase would be on our behalf as we do not negotiate immediate purchases of works for the collection. We secure a donor and Mr. Shein acts as our agent for the purchase. Should you be so kind as to entertain his offer and decide on sale, the work would be placed in the Frederick Douglass of the Museum of African Art here in the nation’s capital to be shared by a much larger audience of persons of African ancestry than could possibly be accomplished through one time

2. Mr. Fleischmann 1/12/78

exhibition programs. We are hopeful of helping young people of African ancestry realize the fact of their great history through the products of cultural history. Art is a fine way of doing this and I hope that you will help us ny [by] considering our offer of purchase of "Forest Landscape".

It isn't often that we have a donor who is willing to provide us with funds to realize such a purchase but we have been able to convince a number of well-meaning supporters of our cause that black children need models to follow in the field of culture just as they have in athletics. I hope that you will be sympathetic to our interest and decide in our favor.

The Museum of African Art is now about to become an important part of the Smithsonian Institution. The works of African artists and their American counterpart will add measurably to our interest, respect and recognition of another dimension of our own cultural history.

Very sincerely yours,

David G. Driskell Director AMISTAD II: Afro-American Art and The Aaron Douglas Collection

DCD/c

[HANDWRITTEN & UNDERLINED: "Page One"]

[EMBOSSED SCRIPT] Mrs. Kenneth Irving Brown [ADDRESS REDACTED]

[TYPEWRITTEN]

January 20, 1978

Dear David and Thelma,

It is difficult to find the words with which to thank you for the handsome volume: Two Centuries of Black American Art. It is a choice piece of literature and a beautiful reprinting of pictures, statues, and other artifacts.

We are very pleased to have it, and shall proudly display it on our coffee table!

You have every reason , David, to be thankful that you have the energy to paint, write teach, be a full professor and a husband and father at the same time! The years have taken their toll from me, for I find 1 cannot do all the things I used to do with ease. 'Eighty -two is an advanced age and I have nothing to complain about.

What fun it would be to get together to talk about Africa! There was a time when we knew Nigeria very well: Lagos, Ibadan, and from there we went to Oyo to see the Adjamobi's, from Lagos we got out to the Mayflower School and also to Aiyetoro - the Happy City, where we were afriad [afraid] of the water and saved all the tea water, and when it gave out drank warm beer. The three days there was an interesting experience. We got to Kaduna to see friends but not to Kano, for the Hamadan (?) wind made landing at Kano impossible. On another trip we went to Uyo, near Port Harcourt. Benin, Ede, Ife were all visited as well as small villages scattered about. I was reminding Kib last night that we had had two New Year's Eves in Durbin, SA. Africa