Vivian_Schuyler_Key

Vivian Schuyler Key

Vivian Schuyler Key

American artist (1905–1990)

Vivian Schuyler-Key (née Vivian Schuyler; November 3, 1905 – 1990), was an American painter, sculptor, printmaker, designer, and illustrator.[1][2] She was active starting in the 1920s, working within the Harlem Renaissance.[2][3] Her painted works consisted of oil painting 'still life' of flowers, landscapes, and portraits. She focused mainly on figurative realism.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Early life and education

Vivian Schuyler was born on November 3, 1905, to Black parents Henry Foster Schuyler, and Jessie Valentine Schuyler.[4] Her father worked as a coachmen and her was a domestic worker. She was born in Hempstead, New York, and attended Hempstead High School where she was the art editor for her high school's yearbook. She graduated with her diploma in 1923 and proceeded to win a New York State scholarship, that same year.

Using that New York State scholarship, Schuyler-Key attended Pratt Institute School of Fine Arts (now Pratt Institute) from 1923 to 1926. Around 20 years later, in 1947, Schuyler-Key finished and graduated with her degree from Pratt Institute School of Fine Art.[4][5] She was the first Black woman to graduate from Pratt Institute.[3]

Career

After graduation Schuyler Key exhibited her artwork, noted group exhibitions include at Spelman College (1930) in Atlanta, Georgia;[6] Howard University art gallery (1932) in Washington, D.C.;[7] Skylight Gallery (1990) in Brooklyn;[8] Soapstone Gallery (1993) in Decatur, Georgia;[9] and Hammonds House Museum (2012) in Atlanta, Georgia.[10]

She taught stone carving to artist Otto Neals.[11]

Schuyler Key also had worked as a director of Verina Morton Jones and Mary White Ovington's Lincoln Settlement House at 105 Fleet Place in Brooklyn; and director at Glen Cove Settlement House in Long Island.[12]

The Crisis

In 1927, at the age of 22, Schuyler Key won the Amy E. Spingarn Krigiva Award for her cover design for the NAACP magazine, The Crisis.[4][13] The cover she designed was the November 1927 issue which featured articles from W.E.B. Dubois, G.W. Buckner, Joseph Maree Andrew, Effie Lee Newsome, and many more. The cover she designed features a female figure in a white dress, singing surrounded by multiple other figures. The quotation "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is also featured on this issue's cover.[14]

Letter to W.E.B. Dubois

On November 20, 1961, Schuyler-Key wrote a letter to W.E.B. Dubois, congratulating him on his publications and the work he had done. During this time of the Civil Rights Movement, Dubois was not receiving the "proper recognition of his achievements."[15]  Schuyler-Key and Dubois had worked together over 30 years prior, on the November 1927 issue of The Crisis. Due to the span of time between their collaboration, Schuyler-Key reminded him within this letter and also told of the positive recognition her portrait of him had received.

References

  1. [1]
    Igoe, Lynn; Igoe, James (1981). 250 Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography. Bowker. p. 854. ISBN 978-0-8352-1376-9.
  2. [2]
    Fax, Elton C. (1977). Black Artists of the New Generation. Dodd, Mead. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-396-07434-2.
  3. [3]
    "The Making of a Museum". The Atlanta Constitution. 1991-08-13. p. 77. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. [4]
    Bontemps, Alex; Fonvielle-Bontemps, Jacqueline; Driskell, David C. (1980). Forever Free : Art by African-American Women 1862-1980. Alexandria Virginia: Stephenson Incorporated.
  5. [5]
    Jenssen, Victoria (2022-08-10). The Art of Carol Janeway: A Tile & Ceramics Career with Georg Jensen Inc. and Ossip Zadkine in 1940s Manhattan. FriesenPress. p. 382. ISBN 978-1-0391-3088-3.
  6. [6]
    "Work of Negro Artists at Spelman Interesting". The Atlanta Journal. 1930-05-11. p. 33. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. [7]
    "View Paintings of Negro Artists". The Kansas City American. 1932-05-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. [8]
    "Article clipped". Newsday. February 4, 1990. p. 153. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. [9]
    "Article clipping". The Atlanta Journal. April 29, 1993. p. 136. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. [10]
    "Article clipping". The Atlanta Constitution. July 6, 2012. p. D6. Retrieved 2024-02-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. [11]
    "Otto Neals". SC African American.
  12. [12]
    An Exhibition of Work by Negro Artists, at the Art Center, Feb. 20 to March 4, 1933. Harmon Foundation. 1933. p. 49.
  13. [13]
    "Article clipped from The News". The News (Paterson, New Jersey). 1932-11-16. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  14. [14]
    "The Crisis 1927-11: Vol 34 Iss 9". The Crisis Publishing Company. November 1927.
  15. [15]
    "Letter from Vivian Schuyler Key to W. E. B. Du Bois, November 20, 1961".
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