The first major retrospective of the Chicago-born painter in more than three decades encompasses his four-decade career and his efforts in articulating African American lives and experience. More than 80 paintings, drawings, and prints from the 1930s to ’70s demonstrate his artistic development from representation to figuration, his engagement with civil rights, and his powerful focus on identity, race, and history.

Charles White, “Sound of Silence” (1978). Printed by David Panosh, published by Hand Graphics, Ltd.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Margaret Fisher Fund. © The Charles White Archives Inc.