Reba Dickerson-Hill

Last updated
Reba Dickerson-Hill
Born1918
Died1994
Education Cheyney University
Website https://rebadickersonhill.com/

Reba Dickerson-Hill was a self-taught Philadelphia artist who painted in the ancient Japanese ink-and- brush technique called sumi-e. She was also a watercolorist and oil painter who primarily produced landscapes and portraits.

Contents

Early life and education

Dickerson-Hill was born in West Philadelphia on February 18, 1918, to Evan Thomas Dickerson and Reba Henrietta Tyree Dickerson. One of six children, she started drawing when she was about 4 years old. [1] Her father and an elementary school principal recognized her talent. [2] As a youth, she spent some time sketching along Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

She attended Overbook High School and enrolled at Cheyney State Teachers College. She graduated in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. A 1940 article in the Baltimore Afro American newspaper about Cheyney's graduates noted that she was an artist and planned to make it her career. [3] She taught elementary grades in the Philadelphia School District starting around 1949. [4] During the 1960s, she was an assistant professor of fine arts at Cheyney. [5] [6] [7] She gave up teaching around 1966 to become a full-time artist. [8]

Her career as painter

Dickerson-Hill worked in several mediums: watercolor, oil, collage, mixed media, pen and ink, ink and brush, sumi-e, sculpture, calligraphy and acrylics. [6] [9] She also produced prints. [10]

She was a self-taught artist, with no formal art-school degree. In Philadelphia, she learned painting techniques from Claude Clark (in the mid-1940s) and Paul Keene; printing from printmaker/painter/illustrator Jerome Kaplan; calligraphy from Marvin Bileck, and kinesthetic Chinese watercolor techniques from Ramon Fina, known for his expertise in the ancient tradition of Chinese brush painting. [11] [6]

She first learned about Eastern art techniques from Fina when she studied at the Barnes Foundation around 1947. [9] [12] In 1959, she attended a presentation by Fina at the Plastic Club, a women’s art organization, in Philadelphia. [13]

Dickerson-Hill studied at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of the Arts/Philadelphia College of the Arts, Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA, and the University of Exeter, England. [9] [14] In 1950, she was a member of Les Beau Arts, a group of African Americans in the arts, music and literature. Artist Benjamin Britt was also a member. [15]

In 1946, Dickerson-Hill was in a show to support young Black artists sponsored by the Henry O. Tanne r Memorial Fund. The exhibit was held at the Wharton Centre, a social service agency in North Philadelphia that hosted a youth arts program and exhibits. The artworks were donated to various community organizations. Her painting “Still Life” went to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and “Study No. 2” to the Crime Prevention Association. [16]

She participated in a series of exhibitions at Cheyney in 1956 as an alumna and in 1966 as a faculty member. [17] The 1966 exhibit was the college's first Fine Arts Festival, and she was one of three faculty members represented. Among her entries were watercolors, according to an unidentified newspaper article that appeared to be a campus publication. The watercolors were “The Boatman,” “The Bay” and “What is Man.” Two of her oil paintings were also shown, “Metropolis” and “Nisi Dominus Frustra,” as well as a portrait of William P. Young, who was Pennsylvania's second Black cabinet member as secretary of Labor and Industry. [5] [18]

Dickerson-Hill's oil painting “Study in Copper and Bronze” won first prize by popular vote in a 1969 art exhibit at the branch office of Liberty Federal Savings and Loan Association in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. [6] [19] She had exhibited at the bank before, in 1960, in a solo show of 45 paintings and drawings. [4]

She was also represented in three major exhibits of Black artists in 1969 and 1971. She was one of 100 artists from around the country in an exhibit sponsored by the Philadelphia School District and the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. [20] [21] In 1971, she was featured in an Aesthetic Dynamics' exhibit organized by artist Percy Ricks in Wilmington, DE, which drew 75 artists from New York to Washington, DC. [22] [23] [24] Also in 1971, she participated in the National Exhibition of Black Artists at the Smith-Mason Gallery in Washington, DC. [25]

In 1960, she also was featured at the Pyramid Club, a social organization of Black professional men that held an annual art exhibit starting in 1941. Others on hand were Howard N. Watson, Benjamin Britt, Robert Jefferson, Samuel J. Brown Jr. and Dox Thrash.

She was a member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club (where she was board member and life member) and the Philadelphia Print Club. [6] [26] [9]

Among her exhibitions: the Philadelphia Art Teachers Association, Woodmere Art Museum, the Philadelphia Urban League Guild, October Gallery, Allens Lane Art Center and the University of the Arts. Her foreign exhibits were in South America, Europe and the Bahamas. [27] [28] [6] [4] [14] [29] [30] [31] Sidney Rothman's The Gallery in Barnegat Light, NJ, exhibited and sold her works. [32]

She received a National Design Award and in 1980, the Andrew Wyeth watercolor prize. [31] [33] [34] She served as a judge at several art exhibitions, conducted workshops on sumi-e and served on several exhibition-planning committees. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]

Mastering the Japanese art of sumi-e

Dickerson-Hill learned sumi-e painting from Fina while at the Barnes. [6] Her sumi-e painting “The Philosopher” was the cover image of the Sumi-e Society of America's quarterly in 1984. [40]

She did not go to Japan until 1986, where she spent 19 days in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara. [1] A year later, she arrived in Exeter, England, for a sumi-e workshop conducted by the foremost master of Zen arts Shozo Sato.

Sumi-e originated in ancient China and made its way to Japan. [41] The process is very focused and precise, with its own ritual, she explained to a newspaper writer. It required clearing of the mind, using the traditional tools (special ink, bowl, animal-hair brush and rice paper ) and adhering to the process, including no altering of lines on paper after they have been painted. [1] [2] On some of her sumi-e paintings, Dickerson-Hill stamped her name in Japanese. She had the stamps specially made: One is her name and the other means "woman who loves art and beauty," she told a Philadelphia Tribune newspaper writer during an October Gallery Art Expo in 1988. She often attended the annual art expos held by the gallery. [32] [42] [43]

In 1992, the Sumi-e Society of America honored her for the painting “Into the Light,” awarded during its 27th annual competition and exhibition in Mobile, AL. [44] Some years before, she had won the society's purchase award for the painting “The Mountain.” [31] She was a member of the society. [27] [31]

She is listed in the Japanese encyclopedia of sumi-e artists and Who's Who in the East, 1992-1993 edition. [33]

Her death and posthumous exhibits

Dickerson-Hill died on Jan. 17, 1994. [7] [33] In 1996, the Esther M. Klein Gallery at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia held a “homecoming” show in memory of Dickerson-Hill and Ellen Powell Tiberino (who had died in 1992), both described as internationally known female artists. [9] The exhibit included ceramic-tile artwork of African people and North American flora that Dickerson-Hill had finished shortly before she died.

In 2001, Cheyney University mounted an exhibit of 100 of her paintings in an exhibit titled “Landscapes of the Heart.” [45] In 2015, the Woodmere Art Museum included her work in a group show titled “We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s.” [46] [47] In 2021, the Delaware Art Museum featured her work in a re-creation of Percy Ricks’ 1971 Aesthetic Dynamics show. [48] [49]

Selected collections

According to the Reba Dickerson-Hill website, her works are in the following collections, among others: First Pennsylvania Bank, Philadelphia; Atlanta University; Cheyney University; American Frame Corp.; Philadelphia International Airport and private individuals. [31] [50] The Free Library of Philadelphia has two of her prints, including "The Philosopher." [51] [52]

Selected exhibitions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Wheeler Waring</span> American artist and educator

Laura Wheeler Waring was an American artist and educator, most renowned for her realistic portraits, landscapes, still-life, and well-known African American portraitures she made during the Harlem Renaissance. She was one of the few African American artists in France, a turning point of her career and profession where she attained widespread attention, exhibited in Paris, won awards, and spent the next 30 years teaching art at Cheyney University in Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Powell Tiberino</span> American painter

Ellen Powell Tiberino (1937-1992) was an African American artist who was figurative and expressionist in her pastels, oils, pencil drawings and sculptures. Her works were infused with the experiences and history of Black people, women in particular, whom she most often painted in dark and haunting hues. She was a prolific artist, working against time as she battled cancer for the last 14 years of her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moe Brooker</span> African American artist (1940–2022)

Moe Albert Brooker was an African American painter, educator and printmaker. An abstract artist, he used vivid colors, lines, stripes, squares and circles to infuse a feeling of improvisational jazz in his works. Brooker was an internationally known artist whose paintings are in the collections of major museums and other institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Woodrow Wilson</span> American artist

John Woodrow Wilson (1922–2015) was an American lithographer, sculptor, painter, muralist, and art teacher whose art was driven by the political climate of his time. Wilson was best known for his works portraying themes of social justice and equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter H. Williams</span> American painter

Walter Henry Williams Jr. (1920–1998) was an African American-born artist, painter, printmaker and ceramicist who became a Danish citizen later in his life. The subjects of his artwork evolved from urban street scenes straight out of his New York upbringing to the metaphorical images of rural Black children playing in fields of sunflowers, butterflies and shacks.

Louise D. Clement-Hoff was an American painter and educator who specialized in oil painting, pastel and drawing of human figures and still lifes.

William "Bill" Lowell Howell was a graphic designer, painter, illustrator, set designer and photographer. He was an early member of the Weusi Artist Collective, a group of artists who helped birth the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s. He was art director for The New Lafayette Theatre in New York and its Black Theater magazine. He co-founded the Pamoja Studio Gallery in New York in 1967.

Leroy Johnson was a largely self-taught African American artist who used found materials to create mixed-media works. He was known for his paintings, assemblage sculptures and collages that were inspired, influenced and reflective of African American history and his experiences living in the inner city of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Joseph Brown Jr.</span> American visual artist and educator

Samuel Joseph Brown Jr. (1907–1994) was a watercolorist, printmaker, and educator. He was the first African American artist hired to produce work for the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the Work Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Brown often depicted the lives of African Americans in his paintings. He worked primarily in watercolor and oils, and he produced portraits, landscapes and prints.

Frank J. Dillon (1867–1954) was an African American artist and stained-glass designer who exhibited widely through the Harmon Foundation in the 1930s. He won an Honorable Mention in the foundation's competition for Black artists in 1929. Dillon's medium was oils and watercolors, and he produced still lifes, portraits and landscapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland Ayers</span> African American artist

Roland Ayers (1932–2014) was an African American watercolorist and printmaker. He is better known for his intricate drawings – black-ink figures of humans and nature intertwined in a dream-like state against a neutral backdrop. A poet and lover of jazz and books, he expressed his poetry through images rather than words, he often noted, and considered his artwork to be poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis B. Sloan</span> African American landscape artist


Louis B. Sloan was an African American landscape artist, teacher and conservator. He was the first Black full professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), and a conservator for the academy and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Although he painted urban neighborhoods and other cityscapes, he was mostly known for his plein-air paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus P. Knox</span> American artist

Columbus P. Knox (1923–1999) was a painter, muralist, illustrator and printmaker. He was a mainstay at the annual Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show in Philadelphia, the oldest outdoor art exhibition in the country. His works are in museums and private collections. Knox created his own style of painting: using brushstrokes that resembled a rake being pulled through sand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Britt</span> American painter

Benjamin Franklin (Ben) Britt (1923–1996) was a figurative, surrealist and abstract painter, and art teacher. His subjects were African American culture, religion and children, which he captured in oil and charcoals. Britt signed his works “B. Britt,” dotting the “i” with tiny round circles.

Henry B. Jones was an African American artist, writer, print-maker, illustrator, teacher, athletic coach and school counselor. He was known primarily for his portraits and landscapes.

Barbara J. Bullock is an African American painter, collagist, printmaker, soft sculptor and arts instructor. Her works capture African motifs, African and African American culture, spirits, dancing and jazz in abstract and figural forms. She creates three-dimensional collages, portraits, altars and masks in vibrant colors, patterns and shapes. Bullock produces artworks in series with a common theme and style.

Earl Horter was an American painter, illustrator, printmaker, teacher and art collector. He was instrumental in introducing modern art to Philadelphia as both an artist and collector of Cubist and abstract art. During the 1920s, he had one of the largest collections of modern art in the United States, and he was among the most prominent etchers of his generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard N. Watson</span> American artist (1929–2022)

Howard N. Watson (1929-2022) was an African American watercolorist, landscape artist, illustrator and teacher. He was known for his impressionistic watercolors of historical buildings, streets, neighborhoods and landmarks in the Philadelphia region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Henry Dorsey</span> 18th-century artist, collector, scrapbooker (1837-1923

William Henry Dorsey (1837-1923) was a bibliophile, artist, scrapbooker, numismatist, social historian, and collector of Black history and art. He was most noted for the 388 scrapbooks he compiled of newspaper and magazine clippings chronicling Black life in his hometown of Philadelphia and across the country during the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Leroy Wigfall</span> American artist (1930-2017

Benjamin Leroy Wigfall (1930–2017) was an American abstract-expressionist painter, printmaker, teacher, gallery owner, and collector of African art. He was the founder of a community art space called Communications Village as a hub for residents in a Black neighborhood in Kingston, New York. At the age of 20, he was the youngest artist ever to have a painting purchased by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

References

  1. 1 2 3 McCarthy, Vivien (February 1987). "Philadelphia artist uses Eastern technique". Mount Airy Express.
  2. 1 2 Jackson, Michael (1992-10-07). "Reba Dickerson-Hill: A painting prodigy in Japanese Sumi-e". Mount Airy Times Express.
  3. "Immediate Jobs for Many Cheyney Grads". Afro-American. Baltimore. 6 July 1940. p. 8. ProQuest   531260376.
  4. 1 2 3 Poindexter, Malcolm (19 November 1960). "Mother Successfully Combines Three Careers: Teacher-Artist's Paintings, Drawings on Exhibit at Germantown Bank". Philadelphia Tribune. p. 11. ProQuest   532245285.
  5. 1 2 "Cheyney State Sets Fine Arts Festival". Delaware County Times. via newspapers.com. 1966-03-29. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "A Woman And Her Art". Philadelphia Tribune. 21 June 1969. p. 16. ProQuest   532597923.
  7. 1 2 "Reba Dickerson-Hill, 75, honored Sumi-e artist". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. 1994-01-22. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  8. "Philly Gays Give Art Show". Pittsburgh Courier. via newspapers.com. 1966-10-29. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Press Release. "A memorial exhibition of the works of Reba Dickerson Hill and Ellen Powell Tiberino." Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, University City Science Center. Jan. 12-Feb. 23, 1996.
  10. Clarke, Sabina (21 January 1992). "Art exhibit features Black prints". Philadelphia Tribune. p. 6B. ProQuest   533050826.
  11. ""First think and then act": Aspects of the life of Claude Clark". Black Art in America. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  12. Chambers, Eddie (2019). Rutledge companion to African American art history.
  13. 1959 pamphlet for the Plastic Club signed by Ramon Fina in papers of Reba Dickerson-Hill. Information obtained from her son Harold W. Hill Jr.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Russell, Ruth R. (1981-06-25). "Summer show at the bank". Chestnut Hill Local.
  15. "Les Beaux Arts Fold 'Le Bal' Tonight". Philadelphia Tribune. 1 April 1950. p. 7. ProQuest   531861543.
  16. "5th Annual Art Show Successful Affair". Philadelphia Tribune. 1 June 1946. p. 7. ProQuest   531762197.
  17. "Art Show At Cheyney". Philadelphia Tribune. 16 October 1956. p. 5. ProQuest   532133529.
  18. News clipping from what appears to be a Cheyney University campus newspaper, with handwritten date of April 1966. Article is missing newspaper masthead and printed date.
  19. "Newspaper ad: Liberty Federal Savings Proudly Congratulates Reba Dickerson Hill". Philadelphia Tribune. 21 June 1969. p. 16. ProQuest   532549733.
  20. Howard, Sherry (2012-06-15). "Telling the stories of Philadelphia's lost artists". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  21. Donohoe, Victoria (1969-12-14). "Impressive Exhibit by Afro-Americans". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  22. "Variety in black art show". Morning News, Wilmington, DE. via newspapers.com. 1971-02-19. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  23. Kaplan, Ruth Jillya (1971-01-26). "75 Black Artists – And Guard's the Host". The News Journal, Wilmington, DE. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  24. "Afro-American Images 1971 is interesting, varied show". The News Journal, Wilmington, DE. via newspapers.com. 1971-02-11. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  25. 1 2 Cederholm, Theresa (1973). "Afro-American Artists: A Bio-bibliographic Directory". archive.org. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  26. 1 2 3 Lewis, Bobbie (1984-04-12). "Elusive spiritualism in Reba Dickerson-Hill's sumi-e works". Chestnut Hill Local.
  27. 1 2 McCarthy, Vivian (1987-10-14). "Reba Dickerson-Hill". Germantown Courier.
  28. 1 2 "Joe Rainey Seen And Heard". Philadelphia Tribune. 23 February 1960. p. 5. ProQuest   532167932.
  29. 1 2 "Social is Artistic Hit: Home of Scholley Alexander Scene Of Exhibition". Philadelphia Tribune. 1 November 1960. p. 5. ProQuest   532215925.
  30. 1 2 De La Vina, Mark (1991-12-17). "A yearlong date with Black artists". Philadelphia Daily News. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 "About Reba Dickerson-Hill". Reba Dickerson-Hill. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  32. 1 2 3 Brody, Millicent K. (1992-05-29). "Rothman's 'Eclectic Collection' Opens in Barnegat Light". Barnegat Light Islander.
  33. 1 2 3 Nicholson, Jim (1994-01-21). "Reba Dickerson-Hill, noted Sumi-e artist". Philadelphia Daily News. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  34. Wilson, Kendall (25 January 1994). "Reba Dickerson Hill, Sumie-e artist, at 75". Philadelphia Tribune. p. 5D. ProQuest   533116384.
  35. "Fourth Annual Teen Arts Festival sponsored by county, college". Asbury Park Press. via newspapers.com. 1983-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  36. "Clothesline art winners named". Delaware County Daily Times. via newspapers.com. 1976-06-14. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  37. Gray, Peyton Jr. (1967-03-04). "Peyton's Place, Black Projection-67". Philadelphia Tribune. ProQuest   532603640.
  38. 1 2 "Southwest-Belmont 'Y' Make Art Headlines". Philadelphia Tribune. 1967-01-17. ProQuest   532458202.
  39. 1 2 "Work of Forty Local Artists to Be Exhibited During YWCA's 100th Anniversary Art Series". Philadelphia Tribune. 1969-10-21. ProQuest   532613796.
  40. "Reba Dickerson-Hill Gallery". Reba Dickerson-Hill.
  41. "Suiboku-ga - Japanese painting style". Britannica.
  42. Carter, Yanina (1988-10-01). "October Gallery holds annual Art Expo". Philadelphia Tribune. ProQuest   532969318.
  43. "Spring Afro American Art Expo 1989". Philadelphia Tribune. 1989-04-21. ProQuest   533005770.
  44. "Sumi-e Society of America honors artists Reba Dickerson-Hill". Philadelphia New Observer. 1992-09-16.
  45. "Concerts, cake for George and Scottish-Irish Festival". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. 2001-02-16. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  46. We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s to 1970s. Woodmere Art Museum (catalog). 2015.
  47. "We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s: About the Exhibition". Woodmere Art Museum. 2015. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  48. Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks. Delaware Art Museum. 2021.
  49. "Afro-American Images 1971: The Vision of Percy Ricks, About the Exhibition". Delaware Art Museum. 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  50. Artwork and print collection. OCLC   70972030.[ page needed ][ verification needed ]
  51. 1 2 De La Vina, Mark (1992-01-24). "Finding a treasure in black prints". Philadelphia Daily News. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  52. 1 2 Clarke, Sabina Lawlor (1992-01-21). "Art Exhibit features Black prints". Philadelphia Tribune. ProQuest   533050826.
  53. "Today's Events: Crossroads Gallery". The Morning News, Wilmington, DE. via newspapers.com. 1966-10-21. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  54. "Calendar of Events: Crossroads Gallery". Delaware County Daily Times. via newspapers.com. 1966-10-08. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  55. "African-American Artists of the Delaware Valley". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. 1981-03-01. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  56. "Expressions Of Excellence: A festival of Black, Hispanic and native American arts". New Pittsburgh Courier. 1981-08-22. ProQuest   1023833048.
  57. "Cheyney State inauguration calendar". Philadelphia Tribune. 1982-12-03. ProQuest   532825561.
  58. "Photo: Black Art Exhibit, One Parkway Auditorium, Bell Atlantic building". Philadelphia Tribune. 1984-03-27. ProQuest   532832947.
  59. Blake, Joseph P. (1984-05-14). "Art on Display". Philadelphia Daily News. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  60. "Peirce Exhibit". Philadelphia Tribune. 1986-02-14. ProQuest   532886003.
  61. "Packard sponsors black art exhibit". Philadelphia Tribune. 1986-02-28. ProQuest   532886265.
  62. "Black Artists Exhibit". Philadelphia Tribune. 1986-02-14. ProQuest   532884098.
  63. "Black-owned art galleries prosper". Philadelphia Tribune. 1986-05-09. ProQuest   532893396.
  64. "What to see and where to go during Art Week". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. 1986-05-02. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  65. "Crockett exhibits". Philadelphia Tribune. 1988-04-22. ProQuest   532964790.
  66. Rhodes, Rosalee Polk (1990-01-31). "College's observance of black history". Philadelphia Inquirer. via newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  67. "Highlights (column)". Courier-Post, Camden, NJ. via newspapers.com. 1990-02-02. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  68. "Black history month: Ongoing events". Philadelphia Daily News. via newspapers.com. 1992-02-14. Retrieved 2022-05-08.