| Margaret Burroughs, born 1917 | ||
Face of Africa, c.1965 | One of the most distinguished African-American artists in the country, Dr. Margaret Burroughs is the founder of the DuSable Museum of African-American History in Chicago, the South Side Community Center, and the National Conference of Artists. She has served as art director for the Negro Hall of Fame and has illustrated many books including What Shall I Tell My Children Who are Black?, and & For Malcolm. Dr. Burroughs made the print Face of Africa after her first trip to Africa in 1965 to study African culture. The Black Pride movement of the 1960s had generated a new interest amongst the African-American community for the reappraisal of African-American history and their roots, and Burroughs found linoleum cuts to be the perfect media in which to communicate and disseminate positive images of African-Americans, their history, and culture. Although Burroughs works in many media, she considers herself first a printmaker, preferring to work in the democratic and accessible medium of linoleum block prints. Burroughs works on her prints at home where she uses the simplest tools to create her dynamic images. | |
