James Baldwin: Celebrating a Legacy

James Baldwin (1924–1987), “Jimmy” to his friends, was a creative force whose legacy continues to influence, encourage, and inspire. To celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday on August 2, this exhibition invites visitors to connect with Baldwin through two portraits.

Both Beauford Delaney (1901–1979) and Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964) were friends with Baldwin, and although they were each from different backgrounds and utilized different mediums, they found commonality in their appreciation for the arts. All three men shared unique, intergenerational perspectives that contributed to a deepened understanding of the hopes and struggles all Americans and the global community faced.

In the works by these two artists, Baldwin’s beauty serves as an invitation to learn more about this dynamic man. He spent much of his life writing plays, essays, novels, and more that related to his identity as a Black, queer man. Rather than consider Baldwin as a stoic symbol of resistance through his life’s works, these twoworks show his vitality, energy, and emotion. As Baldwin poetically states in Notes of a Native Son, “I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all.”