Fine art, fine books: a well-thought-out library for the serious collector.

"By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established, and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches."--Proverbs 24:-3-4

AN ARTIST FRIEND AND SCHOLAR, MICHAEL HARRIS TELLS A wonderful story that he heard earlier in his illustrious career that aptly describes what we commonly hear when people describe their taste in art. The story ends with the arts patron waving his hands and saying with assurance: "I know what I like!"

If you spent any time at all looking at art, you've heard it and may have even said it yourself.

Seasoned and perceptive advisers like Harris, a professor of African and African American art at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the new adjunct curator of African American art at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, along with the unknown author of the story he retells, would probably rephrase that to "You like what you know."

As with almost anything else, taste, or "what you like" is informed by your wisdom, understanding and knowledge. These are not things with which we are born. We acquire them through life's teachings and various experiences. So it is the same with your taste in art.

According to Webster's, knowledge is "the act, fact, or state of knowing ... acquaintance or familiarity." To acquire that knowledge I regularly consult with experts in the field, spend time looking and learning to appreciate and recognize art, and I visit libraries and bookstores to find out what has already been learned and documented about African American art.

Every good art collection should be accompanied by a good art library. It helps you to place your personal collection and the works that you may be considering within the contexts of art and history.

Books As Art

First-rate art books are treasures themselves separate from an art collection. Many are beautifully bound, richly illustrated and filled with the history of art, artists and African American culture. Over time, some of these art books can become quite valuable. The first editions of hardcover volumes are usually expensive to produce and often become quickly unavailable. Others are produced in limited numbers, rare as the art they document, so the eventual demand may simply exceed the supply.

An African proverb embodied in the symbol of the Sankofa bird, a bird that alternately looks backward and forward, conveys the wisdom that "You can't know where you are going unless you know where you come from."

With excellent art books, you can draw from the wisdom of the ages. If you have any concerns, then you can consult your personal library. If you want to be sure an artist is all that you think she is, check it out. If you ever want to consider selling one of your art pieces, you and your appraiser can do it more effectively with books that document the art's importance and value.

Rarely do public libraries hold these treasured volumes. University libraries and museum libraries do a better job, but only a few make a point of including much of the information included here. If you want to continue to grow your knowledge as you grow your art collection, you'll continue to add fine books to your personal library.

From Whence We Came

The following list is based on my personal history collecting art, our family's collection of African American art books and my professional contacts with experts across the nation. It gives you a firm foundation from which you can build your wisdom and your collection with the goal of being an understanding and knowledgeable collector of the precious and pleasant riches and the cultural wealth of African American art.

African-American Art (Oxford History of Art) by Sharon F. Patton Oxford University Press, April 1998 $42.50, ISBN 0-192-84254-4 $18.95 ISBN 0-192-84213-7

A comprehensive, well-illustrated, well-written volume, this book includes timelines, relating art to history and cultural events. Highly recommended for students by a number of professors of African American Art.

African American Art and Artists by Samella Lewis Expanded and revised in 1990 and 2003 Berkeley, University of California Press, $65, ISBN 0-520-23929-6; $34.95, ISBN 0-520-23935-0

First published in 1978 as Art: African America, this work and its subsequent revisions and expansions continually retell and expand the story of African American Art. Samella Lewis also founded The International Review of African American Art, a journal, now published out of Hampton University, Hampton Virginia. The revision of her book and this ongoing publication keeps our fingers on the pulse of African American art to the present day.

African-American Artists on Disc by Lynn Moody Igoe and James Igoe, eds. G. K. Hall & Co., Macmillan Library Reference, March 1999, ISBN 0-783-88539-3 (available as a collectible for $1,195)

A CD-rom without illustrations, this product includes a scanned version of the Igoes's 1266-page book 250 Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography (R. R. Bowker, 1981; out of print; many libraries hold).

A completely annotated bibliography with a technical reference manual; information on thousands of artists and their works, one of the earliest bibliographies of African American Art. This book is included in almost all scholarly research on the subject.

Black Art: A Cultural History by Richard J. Powell Thames & Hudson, December 2002 $16.95, ISBN 0-500-20362-8

An excellent publication--a comprehensive, well-illustrated, well-written book. Previous edition published as Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century in 1997. A good choice for students recommended by university professors.

Colored Pictures: Race & Visual Representation by Michael D. Harris The University of North Carolina Press April 2003, $34.95, ISBN 0-807-82760-6

A thought-provoking book that addresses meaning in African American art and imagery. In this book, the reader is invited to consider and understand what he is seeing and collecting.

Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers by Barbara Head Millstein Rizzoli International, February 2001 $59.95, ISBN 1-858-94123-7

This beautiful book includes almost 100 contemporary photographers.

Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists by Lisa Eo Farrington Oxford University Press, January 2005 $55, ISBN 0-195-1672-1

A recent addition to my library that provides a deeper exploration of the unique contributions of African American women artists.

Gumbo Ya-Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists by Lesley King-Hammond Midmarch Arts Press, February 1995 Out of print, ISBN 1-877-67507-5

A wonderful resource and reference of biographical information on nearly 150 African American women artists. Lesley King-Hammond, art historian and dean of graduate studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art, has recognized some extraordinary talents in this volume.

A History of African-American Artists From 1792 to the Present by Romare Bearden and Harry Henderson Pantheon, October 1993 $75, ISBN 0-394-57016-2

A book coauthored by one of the most significant African American artists of the 20th century, with more than 500 pages.

Modern Negro Art by James A. Porter Howard University Press, November 1992 $32.95, ISBN 0-882-58163-5

Reprint of the classic 1943 edition, the first history of African American art, still a monument to scholarship in the field. David C. Driskell introduction. Mostly black-and-white illustrations.

Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840-1999 by Deborah Willis W. W. Norton & Company, June 2000 $50, ISBN 0-393-04880-2

Superb coverage of black photographers by a celebrated expert in the field.

The St. James Guide to Black Artists by Thomas Riggs, editor Published in association with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, St. James Press, June 1997 $210, ISBN 1-558-62220-9

The Schomburg Center is world renowned for its study of African American History. This 625-page volume offers A to Z biographical entries of nearly 400 prominent black artists. Though not exhaustive, it includes most of those recommended by experts in the field.

Three Decades of American Printmaking: The Brandywine Workshop Collection by Allan L. Edmunds, editor Hudson Hills Press, October 2004 $50, ISBN 1-555-95241-0

An important look at African American prints from a workshop where they were created. Useful for collectors.

Two Centuries of Black American Art by David C. Driskell Los Angeles Museum of Art/Alfred A. Knopf, October 1976 ISBN 0-875-87070-8 (out of Print, some libraries hold).

Anything by or from David Driskell, including but not limited to this seminal work to the recent series of monographs, The David Driskell Series of African American Art, Various Authors, Volumes 1-5, (Pomegranate, $35 each). Driskell is considered by many to be the foremost authority on African American Art.

Knowing Where We Are Going

Our collections will become our history and our children's history. How to begin:

Collecting African American Art: Works on Paper and Canvas by Halima Taha Crown Publishers, 1998, $50, ISBN 0-517-70593-1; Verve Editions, March 2005 (revised), ISBN 0-966-03528-3

In this basic how-to for collectors, there is much useful information including appendixes of art dealers by state, photographic resources, African American Museum Association resources. Numerous illustrations. Selected bibliography. Covers hundreds of artists.

Museum Books

To get up close and personal with some of the artwork and get a sampling of the some of the best African American art, visit the museums associated with the following books and check out their accompanying catalogs. Many American museums have slowly begun to recognize and collect the contributions of African American visual artists. Visiting these museums, seeing the art and acquiring their accompanying catalogues will begin to give you a taste of what there is available to see in our museums and in publication.

Free Within Ourselves: African-American Artists in the Collection of the National Museum of American Art by Regenia Perry Smithsonian Institution (in association with Pomegranate Communications, October 1992, out-of-print, ISBN 1-566-40072-4

This volume includes biographies and illustrations for 30 artists.

African American Masters: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum by Gwen Everett Harry N. Abrams, September 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-810-94511-8

Selections from our national American art museum.

African Americans in Art: Selections From the Art Institute of Chicago by Susan F.N.L. Rossen University of Washington Press, May 1999, $14.95, ISBN 0-295-97833-3

African American Artists, 1929-1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Lisa Mintz Messinger, Lisa Gail Collins, Rachel Mustalish Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2003, $14.95, ISBN 0-300-09877-4

Art by African Americans in the Collection of the New Jersey State Museum by Alison Weld, editor New Jersey State Museum, 1998 Out of print, ISBN 0-938-76600-7

Notable for what the museum describes as its "comprehensive collection of works by 19th- and 20th-century African American artists."

To Conserve a Legacy: American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities by Kishasha Holman Cornwall, editor, Richard Powell, Jock Reynolds curators; corganized by the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem, March 1999 $60, ISBN 0-262-16186-9, $37, ISBN 0262-66151-9

Private Collections

For a veritable feast of African American art and artists you can drool over the catalogues and books of important private collections.

Log on to www.bibookreview.com for a list of books on private art collections.

These African American art experts contributed to the compilation of these lists of essential art books: Lynn Moody Igoe, editor and researcher; David Driskell, art historian professor emeritus University of Maryland and artist; Louise Stone, a freelance editor with a specialty in art books; Michael Harris, artist, professor and curator of African and African American art; Halima Taha, author; and Harriet Kelley, collector.

Cheryl Sutton is an art curator and dealer based in Raleigh, North Carolina