Inspired by this pretty comprehensive list of historic African-American visual artists, we decided to add to its usefulness by organizing it in a different way, featuring artists grouped together by the medium in which they express themselves: printmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, installations, performance art, body art, conceptual art, video art, and digital art. Sound off in the comments below. Is there another organization of this list that would be useful to you? Did we miss any artists? Let us know and we’ll update the list!
Visual Artists by Media
Agnali / Pixabay
African-American Painters
Llanakila painter digital illustrator and digital artist
Aaron Douglas (1899–1979) painter
Annette P. Jimerson (born 1966) painter
Archibald Motley (1891–1981) painter
Arthello Beck (1941–2004) painter
Barkley Hendricks (born 1945) painter
Beauford Delaney (1901–1979) painter
Benny Andrews (1930–2006) painter
Bernie Casey (born 1939) painter
Betty Blayton (born 1937) painter printmaker
Beverly Buchanan (born 1940) painter sculptor
Bob Thompson (1937–1966) painter
Bryce Hudson (born 1979) painter sculptor
Cairo M. Hunter (born 1990) painter graphic designer illustrator
Calvin B. Jones (1934-2010) painter muralist
Charles Alston (1907–1977) painter
Charles Sallee (1923–2006) painter
Charles Sebree (1914–1985) painter
Clarence Major (born 1936) painter
David Huffman (born 1963) painter
Dean Mitchell (born 1957) painter
Deborah Grant (born 1968) painter
Ealy Mays (born 1959) painter
Edward Clark (born 1926) painter
Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828–1901) painter
Edwin Harleston (1882–1931) painter
Ellis Wilson (1899–1977) painter
Emilio Cruz (1938–2004) painter
Emma Amos (born 1938) painter
Eugene J. Martin (1938–2005) painter
Faith Ringgold (born 1930) painter
Frederick J. Brown (1945–2012) painter
Glenn Ligon (born 1960) painter
Gus Nall painter
Hale Woodruff (1900–1980) painter
Haywood Rivers (1922–2001) painter
Henry Bannarn (1910–1965) painter
Herbert Gentry (1919–2003) painter
Horace Pippin (1888–1946) painter
Howardena Pindell (born 1943) painter
Jack Whitten (born 1939) painter
Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) painter
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) painter
Julie Mehretu (born 1970) painter printmaker
Julien Hudson (1811–1844) painter sculptor
Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) painter
Kerry James Marshall (born 1955) painter
Larry D. Alexander (born 1953) painter
Laura Wheeler Waring (1887–1948) painter
Lawrence Harris painter
Laylah Ali (born 1968) painter
Leslie Smith III (born 1985) painter
Lois Mailou Jones (1905–1998) painter
Lorenzo Scott (born 1934) painter
Malvin Gray Johnson (1896–1934) painter
McArthur Binion (born 1946) painter
Mequitta Ahuja (born 1976) painter installation artist
Merton Simpson (1928–2013) painter
Michael Ray Charles (born 1967) painter
Norman Lewis (1909–1979) painter
Palmer Hayden (1893–1973) painter
Patrick Earl Hammie (born 1981) painter
Pauline Powell Burns (1872–1912) painter
Raymond Saunders painter
Robert Butler (1943–2014) painter
Robert Colescott (1925–2009) painter
Romare Bearden (1911–1988) painter
Sandra Rowe painter
Scipio Moorhead (active 1770s) painter
Thomas Sills (1914–2000) painter
Titus Kaphar (born 1976) painter
Wadsworth Jarrell (born 1929) painter sculptor
Walter Ellison (1899–1977) painter
William Edouard Scott (1884–1964) painter
William T. Williams (born 1942) painter
Willie Cole (born 1955) painter
Edward L. Loper, Sr. (1916–2011) painter
Henry Taylor (born 1958) painter painter
Ellen Gallagher (born 1965) painter collage
Gilda Snowden (1954–2014) painter
Joseph Delaney (1904–1991) painter
Leamon Green (born 1959) painter mixed media
Mark Bradford (born 1961) painter mixed media
Patrick H. Reason (1816–1898) painter mixed media
Pheoris West painter
Raymond Steth (1916–1997) painter
Rose Piper (born 1917) painter
Thomas Blackshear painter
Trenton Doyle Hancock (born 1974) painter
Tyree Guyton (born 1955) painter sculpture
William H. Johnson (1902–1970) painter
Allan Crite (1910–2007) painter
Alma Thomas (1891–1978) painter
John Wesley Hardrick (1891–1948) painter
Sam Gilliam (born 1933) painter
Jeff Donaldson (born 1932) painter and critic
Mickalene Thomas (born 1971) painter and installationartist
Terry Dixon (born 1969) painter and multimediaartist
James W. Washington, Jr. (1908–2000) painter and sculptor
Claude Clark (1915–2001) painter and printmaker
Mildred Thompson (1935–2003) painter, abstract printmaker and sculptor
William Simpson (1818–1872) painter, portraits
Joshua Johnson (c.1763–c.1824) painter, portraits and folk artist
African-American Drawing Artists
Edgar Arceneaux (born 1972) drawing artist
Bill Traylor (1856–1949) drawing artist
Frank Calloway (born 1915) drawing artist
Mary A. Bell (1873–1941) drawing artist
African-American Illustrators
Alvin Hollingsworth (1928–2000) illustrator painter
Corky McCoy illustrator
Jerry Pinkney (born 1939) illustrator
Calvin Burnett (1921–2007) illustrator, book
African-American Cartoonists
Charles Boyce (born 1949) cartoonist
Darrin Bell (born 1975) cartoonist
E. Simms Campbell (1906–1971) cartoonist
Fred Carter (born 1938) cartoonist
George Herriman (1880–1944) cartoonist
Jackie Ormes (1911–1985) cartoonist
Kyle Baker (born 1965) cartoonist
Morrie Turner (1923–2014) cartoonist
Robert Brown (c. 1936–2007) cartoonist
Turtel Onli (born 1952) cartoonist
Gene Bilbrew (1923–1974) cartoonist and fetishartist
African-American Muralists
Charles Wilbert White (1918–1979) muralist
John T. Biggers (1924–2001) muralist
William Walker (1927–2011) Chicago muralist
African-American Comic Book Artists
Billy Graham (1935–1999) comic book artist
Mario Gully comic book artist
Matt Baker (1921–1959) comic book artist
African-American Concept Artists
Adrian Piper (born 1948) conceptual artist
Fred Wilson (born 1954) conceptual artist
Graham Goddard (born 1982) conceptual artist
Lorraine O’Grady (born 1934) conceptual artist
Michael Bramwell (born 1953) conceptual artist
Rashid Johnson (born 1977) conceptual artist
William Pope.L (born 1955) conceptual artist
African-American Folk Artists
William Edmondson (1874–1951) folk art sculptor
Clementine Hunter (1886/7–1988) folk artist
Harriet Powers (1837–1910) folk artist
Minnie Evans (1892–1987) folk artist
African-American Installation Artists
Ben Jones (born 1941) installation artist
Renee Green (born 1959) installation artist
African-American Multidisciplinary Artists
Sanford Biggers (born 1970) interdisciplinary
Arthur Rose Sr. (1921–1995) multidisciplinary
Derrick Adams (born 1970) multidisciplinary
Jennie C. Jones (born 1968) multidisciplinary
Kira Lynn Harris (born 1963) multidisciplinary
Margaret Taylor-Burroughs (1915–2010) multidisciplinary
African-American Performance Artists
Nick Cave (born 1959) performanceartist
Steffani Jemison (born 1981) performanceartist video artist
African-American Photographers
Arthur P. Bedou (1882–1966) photographer
Bayeté Ross Smith (born 1976) photographer
C. M. Battey (1873–1927) photographer
Carl Robert Pope (born 1961) photographer
Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953) photographer
Dawoud Bey (born 1953) photographer
Deana Lawson (born 1979) photographer
Deborah Willis (born 1948) photographer
Elise Forrest Harleston (1891–1970) photographer
Gordon Parks (1912–2006) photographer director
James Presley Ball (1825–1904) photographer
Jules T. Allen (born 1947) photographer
P. H. Polk (1898–1984) photographer
Roy DeCarava (1919–2009) photographer
Todd Gray (born 1954) photographer installation and performance artist
Wilda Gerideau-Squires (born 1946) photographer
James Van Der Zee (1886–1983) photographer
Lonnie Graham photographer and installationartist
African-American Sculptors
Augusta Savage (1892–1962) sculptor
Barbara Chase-Riboud (born 1936) sculptor
Beulah Woodard (1895–1955) sculptor
Chakaia Booker (born 1953) sculptor
Ed Hamilton (born 1947) sculptor
Jerry Harris (born 1945) sculptor
John Wilson (born 1922) sculptor
Joyce J. Scott (born 1948) sculptor
Luther Jones (born 1944) sculptor
Manuelita Brown sculptor
Marren Hassenger (born 1947) sculptor installation performance
Martin Puryear (born 1941) sculptor
Mel Edwards (born 1937) sculptor
Richard Hunt (born 1935) sculptor
Richmond Barthé (1901–1989) sculptor
Selma Burke (1900–1995) sculptor
Theaster Gates (born 1973) sculptor ceramicist and performance artist
Tina Allen (1949–2008) sculptor
Ulysses Davis (1913–1990) sculptor
Valerie Maynard (born 1937) sculptor printmaker painter
Sargent Johnson (1888–1967) sculptor
Thornton Dial (born 1928) sculptor mixed media
Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) sculptor and printmaker
African-American Printmakers
Dox Thrash (1892–1962) printmaker sculptor
Robert Blackburn (1920–2003) printmaker
Russell T. Gordon (born 1936) printmaker
E. M. Washington (born 1962) printmaker and counterfeiter
African-American Visual Artists
Alison Saar (born 1956) artist
Amalia Amaki (born 1959) artist
Betye Saar (born 1926) artist
Charles McGill (born 1964) artist educator
David Hammons (born 1943) artist
Delilah Pierce (1904 – 1992) artist
Earle M. Pilgrim (1923–1976) artist
Earle Wilton Richardson (1912–1935) artist
Edmonia Lewis (c. 1843–1879) artist
Gary Simmons (born 1964) artist
Gwendolyn Ann Magee (1943–2011) artist quilter
Gwendolyn Knight (1914–2005) artist
Harold Newton (1934–1994) artist
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937) artist
Howard McCalebb (born 1947) artist
Hughie Lee-Smith (1915–1999) artist
Joe Overstreet (born 1933) artist
John T. Scott (1940–2007) artist
Lorna Simpson (born 1960) artist
Louis Delsarte (born 1944) artist
Martine Syms (born 1988) artist
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877–1968) artist
Purvis Young (1943–2010) artist
Renee Stout (born 1958) artist
Terry Adkins (1953–2014) artist
Whitfield Lovell (born 1960) artist
Emory Douglas (born 1943) artist
Kara Walker (born 1969) artist
Eldzier Cortor (1916–2015) artist and printmaker
David C. Driskell (born 1931) artist and scholar
John Outterbridge (born 1933) assemblage artist
Lezley Saar (born 1953) assemblage artist
African-American Other Visual Arts
Tina Williams Brewer fiber artist
Cauleen Smith (born 1967) film maker
Robert Scott Duncanson (1821–1872) Hudson River School
Leah Gilliam (born 1967) media artist and filmmaker
Ernie Barnes (1938–2009) neo-Mannerist artist
Bing Davis (born 1937) potter and graphic artist
Joseph Yoakum (1890–1972) self-taught landscape artist
Ernest Crichlow (1914–2005) social realist artist
Sonya Clark (born 1967) textile and multimedia artist
Michael Cummings (born 1945) textile artist
Richard Yarde (1939–2011) watercolorist
African-American Arts Collectives
AfriCOBRA
The Highwaymen
Where We At