The scholarship awarded Charles White by the Art Institute of Chicago was only the first of many awards and honors bestowed upon this gentleman during the course of his illustrious career. The year was 1937, and for the next forty-two years, his work would be shown in national and international exhibits, and included in permanent public collections.In 1983, "Images of Dignity" - a retrospective of the works by Charles White assembled by the Studio Museum in Harlem, completed a national tour of museums with a final exhibition at the California Museum of Afro-American History and Culture.
"It is a glorious experience being an artist," said White, "to seek the meaning of truth, reality, beauty, in short - to meet the challenge of life through one's sensitivities. For me, art is a very personal intimate communicative affair. The most tangible means of establishing a rapport with my fellow man and relating to society with a oneness of thinking and feeling.
My work strives to take shape around images. My ideas are centered within the vortex of the life
experience of a Black. I look to the life of my people as the fountainhead of challenging themes
and monumental concepts. I strive to create an image that all mankind can personally relate to
and see his dreams and ideals mirrored with hope and dignity."Charles White's philosophy and work were the subject of numerous books and periodicals, including "The Charles White Papers, 1942-1978", which can be found in the National Archives of American Art at The Smithsonian Institute. The following is a listing of only some of the highlights in Dr. Charles White's career.
COLLECTIONS
Atlanta University, Howard University, North Carolina Central University, The Whitney Museum, The Library of Congress, The Joseph H. Hirschhorn Collection, and the American Federation of the Arts, as well as museums in Mexico, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, South America, China, and the Soviet Union.AWARDS
National Institute of Arts and Letters, Grant, 1952
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition, 1952
International Graphics Show, Gold Medal, Leipzig, Germany, 1960 and 1965
Purchase Award, the city of Los Angeles, 1968
Doctor of Arts, Columbia College, Chicago, 1969
City of Los Angeles, City Council Award Resolution, 1968
International Intergrafik, Gold Medal, Berlin, 1977EXHIBITIONS
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Library of Congress
The Institute of Modern Art, Boston
The Brooklyn Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta
The National Collection of Fine Art, Washington, D.C.
The L.A. City Municipal Art GalleryDr. White exhibited in major invitationals in France, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, and the Soviet Union between 1966 and 1977.