9. Louis Delsarte, Family

9. Louis Delsarte, Family

2006, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
[courtesy of James Hawes III, Atlanta University Center and Robert W. Woodruff Library]

Louis J. Delsarte, born in 1944 in Brooklyn, NY, is a painter, muralist, printmaker, and educator. He holds a CFA in education from Brooklyn College, a BFA from Pratt Institute in New York City, and an MFA from the University of Arizona, and he is currently a professor of Fine Arts at Morehouse College. Delsarte is best known for his nontraditional use of bold colors and imagery, which reflect the influences of the Harlem Renaissance, abstract expressionism, and impressionism. While growing up in New York, Delsarte was exposed to jazz, opera, and the blues through his parents’ friendships with such musicians as Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and with poet Langston Hughes. Their performative influence would ultimately shape Delsarte’s artistic practice, resulting in a painterly, improvisational and impressionistic style. Delsartes’ Family centers on an exuberant family gathering. Rendered in lyrical, shimmery swirls of color, movement, and form, the scene depicts a foundation of familial warmth and mirth.

—Cornelia Stokes and Aishia Ricks