Alonzo J. Aden
Alonzo J. Aden (May 6, 1906 - October 13, 1961) was an art historian and gallerist. He served as curator of “Hall of Negro Life” at the Texas Centennial Exposition, the first major Black arts and culture exhibit at a world's fair, and the American Negro Exposition in Chicago. Aden co-founded with James V. Herring the Barnett-Aden Gallery, one of the first Black-owned art galleries in the United States.
Early life and education
[edit]Alonzo “Lonnie” Aden was born on May 6, 1906 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[1][2] He was the oldest son of Ephraim Aden (1859-1917), a hotelier,[1] and Naomi Barnett (1883-1956), a school teacher.[1] Aden had blonde hair until early adulthood and green eyes.[1]
In 1920, Aden sent to Washington, D.C. to live with his uncle, James Aden, a porter,[1] and his wife Laura.[2] After graduating from Armstrong High School,[1] he attended Hampton Institute (now Hampton University).[2][3]
In June 1927, he wrote to W.E.B. DuBois to ask him for a job writing for The Crisis.[4] That fall he started classes at Howard University,[1] and enrolled in an art history class taught by James V. Herring, his future partner.[5] In 1933, Aden graduated from Howard with a bachelor’s degree in education.[2][3]
Career
[edit]Howard University Art Gallery
[edit]In 1930, Aden began working in the university art gallery as an undergraduate assistant to Herring.[1][2] He would rise through the ranks and eventually become curator of the Howard University Gallery of Art.[2][6][7]
In 1935, Aden received a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship[1] for a sixteen-week apprenticeship in the Visual Education Department at the Buffalo Museum of Science.[3] He took a leave of absence from Howard to complete the apprenticeship.[3]
In 1936, Aden was “on loan from Howard to the United States Department of Commerce”[3] to work as the curator of “Hall of Negro Life” at the Texas Centennial Exposition,[1][3] the first major Black arts and culture exhibit at a world's fair.[8][9] The Hall of Negro Life attracted more than 400,000 visitors.[9][10]
in 1938, Aden received a travel grant from the American Association Museums to study in Europe.[3] He visited museums, galleries, and other artistic spaces in Berlin, Brussels, Cologne, Dresden, Florence, London, Munich, Rome, and Venice.[1][2]
The following year, he returned to the United States and the Howard art gallery.[1] In 1940, Howard professor Alain Locke, who chaired the Art Committee for the American Negro Exposition,[11] invited Aden to serve as curator of the exhibition held in the Tanner Hall Galleries.[2][3][11] Aden was commissioned by the National Gallery of Art to deliver a series "curatorial lectures" in 1941 and 1942. [1][3]
In 1943, Aden resigned as head of the Howard University Art Gallery after ten years of service as curator.[2][12]
Barnett-Aden Gallery
[edit]Aden and Herring co-founded the Barnett-Aden Gallery in 1943.[3][5][6][12][13][14] The Barnett-Aden gallery was named in honor of Aden’s mother, Naomi Barnett-Aden,[3][6][7] who was a "benefactor" of the gallery[5] by giving $1,000 to her son’s new venture.[2]
Barnett-Aden is recognized as one of the first major Black-owned art galleries in the United States.[3][6][15] During its existence, Barnett-Aden hosted nearly 200 gallery events and exhibited more than 400 artists.[13] The gallery maintained a sales policy where each artist retained all the money for their art sale, yet were required to contribute at least one object to the Barnett-Aden art collection.[2]
Personal life
[edit]Aden and Herring, who was 19 years older than Aden, were business and life partners.[2][15] The pair lived together beginning in 1929,[2] in a home on 2nd Street in Washington, DC.[1] Beginning in 1933, Aden and Herring are listed as co-owners of a Randolph Street rowhouse, the site of the Barnett-Aden Gallery,[2] although they did not moved into their new home until 1934.[1] The pair were stylish Washington, DC socialites, entertaining several times a week.[1] Aden favored tailored suits, and Herring sported a cape and cane during winter months, and a white dinner jacket during the summer social season.[1]
On October 13, 1961, Aden suffered an apparent heart attack at the home he shared with Herring.[3]
Legacy
[edit]After Aden’s death,[13] the Barnett-Aden Gallery began to decline and slowly ceased its exhibitions schedule.[3][16] Aden’s partner, James Herring, died in 1969, and the gallery closed.[3][6][17]
In 1998, Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, purchased parts of the Barnett-Aden Collection.[13][18] In 2015, Johnson donated works from the Collection to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.[13][19]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Journal: Barnett Aden. Tim1965 Live Journal. February 11, 2016. https://tim1965.livejournal.com/3084321.html?
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Historical Records of the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. https://sova.si.edu/record/nmaahc.a2014.63.32
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Abbott, Janet Gail. The Barnett Aden Gallery: A Home for Diversity in a Segregated City. Doctoral dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University. September 05, 2008. https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/2675
- ^ Aden, Alonzo J., 1906-1961. Letter from Alonzo J. Aden to W. E. B. Du Bois, June 7, 1927. W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b175-i081
- ^ a b c Thomas, Alma. Autobiographical writing by Alma Thomas concerning James W. Herring and Alonzo Aden, before 1978. Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/autobiographical-writing-alma-thomas-concerning-james-w-herring-and-alonzo-aden-18480
- ^ a b c d e Saltzman, Katherine. Art expert reflects on his work in DC at the nation’s first private gallery owned by African-Americans. The DC Line. Feb 26, 2019. Last updated Mar 5, 2019. https://thedcline.org/2019/02/26/art-expert-reflects-on-his-work-in-dc-at-the-nations-first-private-gallery-owned-by-african-americans/
- ^ a b Barnett-Aden Collection Returns to U St. Corridor. Howard University News Service. https://hunewsservice.com/news/barnett-aden-collection-returns-to-u-st-corridor/
- ^ Anonymous, “Texas Centennial”, Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. 1952. Updated: July 7, 2017. accessed September 23, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-centennial.
- ^ a b Lucko, Paul M. “Hall of Negro Life,” Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. February 1, 1995. Updated: November 9, 2020. accessed September 23, 2024, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hall-of-negro-life.
- ^ History of the Hall of Negro Life. African American Museum, Dallas. https://aamdallas.org/hall-of-negro-life-2/
- ^ a b Exhibition of the Art of the American Negro (1851 to 1940). Assembled by American Negro Exposition. On View July 4 to September 2, 1940. Tanner Art Galleries. American Negro Exposition. Chicago, Illinois. Catalogue. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d0b692bebafbc121224aea/t/58cdfb28893fc0946587e55e/1489894212048/exhibition1940.pdf
- ^ a b Barnett Aden Collection. Published for The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in cooperation with the Barnett-Aden Gallery. By the Smithsonian Institution Press. City of Washington. 1974. https://dn790008.ca.archive.org/0/items/cor5_0_s06_ss01_boxrg5_0_2008_012_f08/cor5-0_s06_ss01_boxrg5-0-2008.012_f08.pdf
- ^ a b c d e Marshburn, Ja-Zette, and Alana Donocoff and Hollis Gentry. Historical Records of the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 2020-2021. https://www.si.edu/media/NMAAHC/NMAAHC-A2014_63_32_FindingAid.pdf
- ^ Exploring the Life of Adolphus Ealey and the Barnett Aden Gallery. Gallery Talk. Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, MD. https://galeriemyrtis.net/exploring-life-adolphus-ealey-barnett-aden-gallery/
- ^ a b Maurer, Renée. From the Archives: Barnett Aden Galley and The Phillips Collection. The Phillips Collection. April 13, 2022. https://www.phillipscollection.org/blog/2022-04-13-archives-barnett-aden-gallery-and-phillips-collection
- ^ "Barnett Aden Gallery, African American Heritage Trail". Cultural Tourism DC. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
- ^ Marsh, Rachel. The Power of Art. A mid-century gallery in Washington, DC gave a voice to the oppressed at a time of widespread oppression. Boomer Magazine. June 15, 2017. https://www.boomermagazine.com/special-kind-of-soul/
- ^ Adams, Susan (2008-12-04). "Black Market". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ^ "Robert L. Johnson Donates Selections from the Barnett-Aden Collection to the National Museum of African American History and Culture". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 8 December 2020.