Three Families
Artist
Beverly Buchanan
(American, 1940 - 2015)
CultureAmerican
Date1990
MediumOil pastel on paper
DimensionsOverall: 38 1/4 x 50 in. (97.2 x 127 cm)
InscribedSigned lower right in script: "Beverly Buchanan" and building numbers 1,2,3
Credit LineGift of David Henry Jacobs, Jr.
Object number99.29.2
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil pastel on paper. The work depicts three red shacks. Label TextBeverly Buchanan American, 1940–2015 Three Families, 1990 Oil pastel on paper Beverly Buchanan studied the vulnerable structures dotting roadsides in the South throughout her life. She accompanied her father, who was an agricultural agent, on his travels to advise tenant farmers, and stayed in their humble dwellings and heard their stories. Her professional interests in texture, fragments, society, and personal histories ultimately led her to embrace the culture of the shack as the dominate theme in her art. Building on memory and imagination, Buchanan creates vibrant drawings of a long-standing, local, architectural style. Rather than signaling despair and hardship, Buchanan’s works of the shack stand as joyful elegies that salute the integrity, resilience, and resolution of the inhabitants. Gift of David Henry Jacobs, Jr. 99.29.2 Exhibition HistorySoho Art Gallery, New York, New York, 1990. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, New York, New York, 1990. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia, 1992. "Beverly Buchanan: ShackWorks, A 16 Year Survey," The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, April 10 - May 22, 1994. Museum of African American History, Michigan, July 1 - September 20, 1994. The Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, New York, November 7 - December 17, 1994. Smith College Museum of Art, Massachusetts, February 9 - April 16, 1995. Delaware Art Museum, Delaware, May 12 - July 9, 1995. Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, July 28 - September 24, 1995. Kutztown University, Sharadin Art Gallery, Pennsylvania, October- December, 1995. Edison Community College Gallery of Fine Art, Florida, January 19 - March 10, 1996. Brenau University Galleries, Georgia, March 28 - May 12, 1996. Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, Georgia, July 20 - August 20, 1996. Published ReferencesLinda McGreevy. "STORY SHACKS". Port Folio Magazine. 09/15/1992:19. Suzanne Slesin. "THE SHACK AS ART AND SOCIAL COMMENT". Vol. CXXXIX, No. 48, 119. The New York Times. 01/18/1990:Front page. Michael Brenson. ART IN REVIEW, "Beverly Buchanan". Vol. CXI, No. 48, 610. THE NEW YORK TIMES. 05/24/1991. Eleanor Flomenhaft. BEVERLY BUCHANAN: SHACKWORKS. Montclair Art Museum. 1994:48 pgs. Larry Gabriel. HOUSES FOR THE SOUL. Tempo: Columbia, South Carolina. 07/23/1995:F1-F2.
