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Ad Code: 3
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from Auction House Records.
A Bit of Romance on Hubert Street
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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Biography from AskART:
| African-American painter Allan Rohan Crite was born on March 20, 1910 in North Plainfield, New Jersey, but moved in infancy with his family to Boston, Massachusetts. He was encouraged by his mother in the pursuit of art; his upbringing stressed education and religion. He graduated from English High School in 1929 and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1936, in addition to private study in the libraries, galleries, and museums of Boston. In 1968 he received a B.A. degree from Harvard University Extension School and has been awarded a number of honorary degrees.
Crite's oil paintings, watercolors, prints and drawings recorded the people, architecture, and daily activities of African Americans in Boston's Roxbury and South End districts during the 1930s and 1940sthe parades, games, conversations, work, and spirit of a past era. According to Crite, "I've only done one piece of work in my whole life and I am still at it. I wanted to paint people of color as normal humans. I tell the story of man through the black figure."
His work is described by author Barbara Earl Thomas: "In the Crite universe, the world is reflected through his faith, interest in history, and love of neighborhood. Rendered with a sharp eye and a graphic touch, his paintings tell a simple story about the quality of one day, a small activity, or historic or holy event. The content is conveyed through his attention to configurations on the surface, the details of the brick, the color of the wood, the texture of the hair. When he gives us these details, it is not to merely demonstrate the prowess of his draftsmanship but rather to help us understand the structure of reality as he sees it."
Crite is a devout Episcopalian who also paints triptychs, altars, murals, vestments, and banners for local churches. He has written and illustrated three religious books.
In 2001, Crite's art was exhibited, and a catalogue printed, at the Frye Art Museum, in Seattle, Washington, Allan Rohan Crite: Artist-Reporter of the African American Community, with text by Julie Levin Caro, Barbara Earl Thomas and Edmund Barry Gaither.
Allan Rohan Crite died in Boston of natural causes in his sleep, on September 6, 2007.
Sources:
http://www.fryeart.org/crite/critepage2.shtml
Julian Levin Caro, Allan Rohan Crite
online eulogy
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| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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Allan Crite is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
Black American Artists
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