{{Short description|American art historian (1924–2022)}} {{use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Samella Lewis | image = Samella Lewis, 1984.jpg | alt = | caption = Lewis in 1984 | birth_name = Samella Sanders | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|02|27}} | birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|05|27|1923|02|27}} | death_place = Torrance, California, U.S. | nationality = | other_names = | education = Hampton Institute;<br/>Hampton University;<br/>Ohio State University | occupation = Artist, art historian | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = Paul Gad Lewis (m. 1948–2013; his death) | children = 2 }}
'''Samella Sanders Lewis''' (February 27, 1923 – May 27, 2022) was an American visual artist and art historian. She worked primarily as a printmaker and painter. She has been called the "Godmother of African American Art".<ref name="Robinson-2019">{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Shantay |title=Dr. Samella Lewis: The Godmother of African American Art |url=https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2019/03/11/dr-samella-lewis-the-godmother-of-african-american-art/ |website=www.blackartinamerica.com |access-date=16 February 2021 |date=19 March 2019 |archive-date=February 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228080306/https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2019/03/11/dr-samella-lewis-the-godmother-of-african-american-art/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> She received Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association (CAA) in 2021.<ref name="Durón-2021">{{Cite web|last=Durón|first=Maximilíano|date=2021-02-12|title=Samella Lewis, Artist and Historian Focused on Advancing Black Art, Awarded CAA's Highest Honor|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/college-art-association-samella-lewis-lifetime-achievement-artist-award-1234583763/|access-date=2021-02-15|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US}}</ref>
<blockquote>''“Art is not a luxury as many people think – it is a necessity. It documents history – it helps educate people and stores knowledge for generations to come.”'' – Dr. Samella Lewis<ref name="Robinson-2019" /></blockquote>
== Early life and background == Samella Sanders was born to Samuel Sanders and Rachel Taylor Sanders in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 27, 1923, and raised in Ponchatoula, Louisiana.<ref name="Miranda-2022" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2022-06-03 |title=Samella Lewis, Artist and Activist for Art World Diversity, Dies at 99 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/arts/samella-lewis-dead.html |access-date=2022-06-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her father worked as a farmer and mother along other jobs worked as a domestic worker.<ref name="Miranda-2022">{{Cite news |last=Miranda |first=Carolina A. |date=29 May 2022 |title=Samella Lewis, 'godmother' of Black art who helped preserve its history, dies at 99 |url=https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2022-05-28/samella-lewis-godmother-of-black-art-dies-at-99 |access-date=22 June 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Widely exhibited and collected as an artist herself, Lewis was better known as a historian, critic, and collector of art, especially African-American art. Lewis completed four degrees, five films, seven books, and a substantial body of artworks which have received critical respect. She pursued an art degree starting off at Dillard University in 1941, but left Dillard for Hampton Institute in Virginia, earning her master's degree in 1947. She earned her B.A. degree at Hampton University, then completed her master and doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at the Ohio State University in 1951.<ref name="Farrington-2005">{{Cite book|title=Creating their own image: the history of African-American women artists|url=https://archive.org/details/creatingtheirown0000farr|url-access=registration|last=Farrington|first=Lisa|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780199767601|location=Oxford, England}}</ref> Lewis was the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history.<ref name="arcurrent.com">{{Cite news|url=http://www.arcurrent.com/arts-culture/2016/09/20/bay-area-artist-hopes-to-establish-himself-at-kaneko-gallery/|title=Bay area artist hopes to establish himself at Kaneko Gallery|first=Luis |last=Gael|date=September 20, 2016|access-date=2017-02-06|language=en-us|newspaper=The American River Current}}</ref>
While finishing her doctorate, Lewis taught art at Morgan State University.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/imagebeliefsamel00lewi|title=Image and belief : Samella Lewis|last1=Lewis|first1=Samella S. interviewee|last2=Cándida Smith|first2=Richard|last3=Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities|first3=compiler|last4=J. Paul Getty Trust|first4=publisher|date=1999|others=Getty Research Institute}}</ref> Lewis became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?fineartsprogram&History|title=Fine Arts Program - Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University 2018|website=www.famu.edu|access-date=2018-10-23}}</ref> that same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National conference of African-American artists held at Florida A&M University.<ref name="Harris 14–15">{{Cite journal|last=Harris|first=Juliette|title=The international review of African American art|journal=Samella Lewis: An Art Institution in Her Own Right|volume=18|pages=14–15}}</ref> She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. She co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970.<ref name="Farrington-2005" /> In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition ''BLACKS: USA: 1973'' held at the New York Cultural Center.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BLACKS: USA: 1973 Opens at the Cultural Center|date=29 September 1973|work=Chicago Metro News}}</ref>
Lewis's grandson is Bay Area artist and musician Unity Lewis.<ref name="arcurrent.com" /><ref name="mercurynews.com">{{Cite web |last=Drummond |first=Tammerlin |date=4 February 2015 |title=Drummond: Oakland exhibit celebrates black fine art |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2015/02/04/drummond-oakland-exhibit-celebrates-black-fine-art/ |access-date=2017-02-06 |website=The Mercury News}}</ref> He plans to create a contemporary version of Samella Lewis's catalog ''Black Artists on Art'', which featured black artists not typically showcased in mainstream art galleries and sold thousands of copies.<ref name="mercurynews.com" /> "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. I felt it better the artists do it anyway, through pictorial and written information… It was really about the movement," Samella Lewis said of the book published in 1969 and 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oakstop.com/portfolio/black-artists-on-art-the-legacy-exhibit/|title=Black Artists on Art: The Legacy Exhibit {{!}} OAKSTOP|website=oakstop.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-06|archive-date=February 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207113134/http://oakstop.com/portfolio/black-artists-on-art-the-legacy-exhibit/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1960–70s, Samella Lewis belonged to a group of artists that would meet every month.<ref name="Harris 14–15"/>
Lewis began collecting art in 1942. She mostly collected art from WPA and the Harlem Renaissance.<ref name="Harris 14–15"/>
== Career == In the 1960s and 1970s Lewis's work, which includes lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected humanity and freedom. Between 1969 and 1970, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a "groundbreaking" exhibition creating awareness to the history of African American history and art.<ref name="Harris 14–15"/>
Lewis was the founder of the ''International Review of African American Art'' in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maaala.org/museum-2/about/|title=Museum of African American Art Los Angeles: Our History|website=www.maaala.org|access-date=April 14, 2025}}</ref> with a group of artistic, academic, business and community leaders in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Farrington-2005" /> These founders had similar goals, including increasing the public's awareness of African American art. Many individuals and corporations, such as Macy's, made generous donations to the museum.<ref name="LAist 2019/08/30">{{Cite news|last=Duersten|first=Matthew|date=August 30, 2019|title=Welcome To The Museum Of Black Art Tucked Away In A Crenshaw Mall|url=https://laist.com/2019/08/30/museum_of_african_american_art_black_art_crenshaw_mall_bladwin_hills.php|access-date=2020-10-07|work=LAist}}</ref> Lewis, as the staff's senior curator in the museum, not only organized a great number of exhibitions but also developed diverse ways of educating the public on African American arts. In an article, she discussed the ideas of "art of tradition", and argued that museums had the responsibility to explore the African roots of African American art.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/lewis-samella-1924|title=Lewis, Samella 1924– - Dictionary definition of Lewis, Samella 1924– {{!}} Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary|website=www.encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=2017-02-06}}</ref> The museum operates on donations in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza with staff and volunteers who are dedicated to supporting the museum. Lewis once mentioned an "art of inspiration" based on the experiences of African Americans themselves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maaala.org/about.html|title=The Museum of African American Art {{!}} Los Angeles|website=www.maaala.org|access-date=2017-02-06|archive-date=February 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207112521/http://www.maaala.org/about.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lewis founded three other museums in the Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Harris 14–15"/>
Lewis was an NAACP member, and a collector of art with her collection including African, Chinese, Asian, South American, and other works. Some of the art that Lewis collected was transferred to the Hampton Institute, now the University Museum.<ref name="Harris 14–15"/>
In 1984, she produced a monograph on the artist Elizabeth Catlett,<ref name="Harris 14–15"/> who had been one of Lewis's mentors at Dillard University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/now-dig-this/artists/samella-lewis/|title=Samella Lewis {{!}} Now Dig This! digital archive {{!}} Hammer Museum|website=Hammer Museum|language=en|access-date=2018-10-23}}</ref>
In 2012, works by Lewis were exhibited alongside selected artworks from her personal collection in ''Samella Lewis and the African American Experience'' at Louis Stern Fine Arts in West Hollywood, California. The exhibition was accompanied by a full-color catalogue with text by art writer and critic Suzanne Muchnic.
In 2015, Unity Lewis and art entrepreneur Trevor Parham created ''The Legacy Exhibit'', which featured three generations of black fine artists, including contemporary artists as well as some included in the original ''Black Artists on Art''. The show launched their recruitment efforts for 500 black American artists to participate in the updated volumes.<ref name="mercurynews.com"/>
== Personal life and death== Lewis married mathematician Paul Gad Lewis in 1948 and they had two sons. He died in 2013. She died from renal failure in a hospice in Torrance, California, on May 27, 2022, at the age of 99.<ref name="Miranda-2022" />
== Exhibitions == * 1969: ''Samella Lewis and George Clack'', Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles * 1980: Solo Exhibition, University Union Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California * 1980: Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition, United States and Canada * 1981: Solo exhibition, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California * 1981: Solo exhibition, University of California, San Diego * 1984: ''African American Art in Atlanta, Public and Corporate Collections'', High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia * 1984: Solo exhibition, Museum of African American Art, Los Angeles, California * 2011: ''Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980'', Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California<ref name="DigThis">{{cite web|title=Now Dig This!|url=https://hammer.ucla.edu/now-dig-this/artists/samella-lewis/|website=Hammer Museum|accessdate=3 March 2018}}</ref> * 2012: ''Samella Lewis and the African American Experience'', Louis Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood, California
== Awards and recognition == * 1962: Fulbright Fellowship to study Asian culture at First Institute of Chinese Civilization and Tung Mai University, Taiwan * 1964–65: National Defense Education Act postdoctoral fellow at University of Southern California, studying Chinese language and Asian civilization * 1993: Charles White lifetime Achievement Award * 1995: UNICEF Award for the Visual Arts * 1996–97: Named a Distinguished Scholar by the Getty Center for the History of Art and Humanities * 2003: The History Maker Award * 2004: Special Day Recognition Award for Outstanding Contributions from the City of New Orleans * 2005: Alumni Association Award from the Ohio State University *2021: Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association<ref name="Durón-2021" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == *Lewis, Samella S. ''African American art and artists'' (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1990), {{ISBN|0-520-08788-7}}; {{ISBN|9780520087880}}; {{ISBN|0-520-08532-9}}; {{ISBN|9780520085329}} *Samella S. Lewis; Ruth G. Waddy. ''Black Artists on Art'' (Los Angeles, CA: Contemporary Crafts Publishers, 1969), {{OCLC|48813}}
==External links== *[http://www.museums.udel.edu/jones/archive/archive_pages/artist_pages/LEWIS.html University of Delaware: Paul R. Jones Collection] *[http://www.aamdallas.org/samella_lewis.htm African American Museum of Dallas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191447/http://www.aamdallas.org/samella_lewis.htm |date=March 3, 2016 }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070611123513/http://www.tilfordartgroup.com/lewis.html Tilford Art Group] *[https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library], Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8zk27 Samella S. Lewis papers, 1930-2010]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *Louis Stern Fine Arts
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Samella}} Category:1923 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century African-American artists Category:20th-century American printmakers Category:20th-century American women artists Category:21st-century African-American artists Category:21st-century African-American women Category:21st-century American women artists Category:African-American art dealers Category:African-American printmakers Category:American art dealers Category:American art historians Category:American women art dealers Category:American women art historians Category:American women curators Category:American women printmakers Category:Artists from New Orleans Category:Hampton University alumni Category:Historians from Louisiana Category:Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Category:20th-century African-American women artists