CHARLES ALSTON (1907 - 1977) Untitled (Head of a Man).
Cast bronze, 1937. Approximately 280 mm; 11 inches high. Incised with the artist's signature and date and numbered 3/6, upper base edge verso.
Provenance: estate of the artist; Bill Hodges Gallery, New York; private collection.
This impressive bust is one of a series of contemplative portraits Alston made in the late 1930s. Many, including this one, closely resemble the artist, and show a sensitive realism in their portrayal of young African-American males. Through his involvment in the WPA, the Harlem Artist's Guild and the "306" collective, Alston came into contact with such figurative pioneers as Augusta Savage, Richmond Barthé and Lionel Reiss, whose influences he synthesized in these late 1930s portraits. A painted plaster model from which this bronze is based was in the artist's estate. Wardlaw pp. 19-20.
