William Edouard Scott: Wash Day, Alabama

Oil on canvas H -24 W-20 inches

Praised as America’s most talented African American artist of his time, William Edouard Scott was born on March 11, 1884, in Indianapolis, Indiana. During his teen years, Scott’s enrollment at Indianapolis Manual Training High School sparked his initial passion for art, which he graduated from in 1903. Within the next year, 20-year-old Scott decided to move to Chicago, where he attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before graduating in 1909, the growing artist was awarded the Frederick Mangus Brand prize for pictorial composition.

After enduring these artistic learning experiences, Scott took his career to the next level by studying abroad. He spent most of this time in Paris being mentored by Ossawa Tanner, a skilled artist who steered Scott’s artistic style away from modernist techniques and towards historical approaches. During his time abroad, Scott also trained at multiple renowned art schools, and it was in 1913 when the London Royal Academy honorably exhibited his works.

Scott later moved back to the United States, where he began to gain attention for the large mural paintings he completed throughout his hometown and surrounding areas. Earning for stability after his travels, Scott moved back to Chicago permanently in 1914.

In 1918 Scott’s career exploded when The Crisis, the NAACP journal, chose him to design the cover art for their Spring publication. With this achievement leading him into a new artistic era, the 1920s Harlem Renaissance solidified Scott’s focus on African American life and history in his art. For the rest of his life, Scott produced work after work that highlighted this subject, including Wash Day, Alabama, the oil painting exhibited above.

Diving into his new place in the early civil rights movement, Scott took on a role in African American education, inspiring young black citizens across the nation. He worked for the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College during the summer of 1949, emphasizing the importance of art in his teachings.

In the last of his years, Scott lived out a lifelong dream of visiting Mexico, but unfortunately, his trip was cut short due to his old age. His last major work, The Negro in Democracy, a mural at South Side Community Art Center, served as his final artistic contribution to the civil rights movement. William Edouard Scott passed away on May 15, 1964, at age 84. His legacy in art history remains hailed for the support and perseverance it represents for the African American people of his time and beyond.

Acquired last year by The Fund for African American art - dedicated to purchasing objects by black artists and makers to continue to diversify the museum’s collection.