CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020)
A Black Prince Dreams of Africa.

Oil on cotton canvas, circa 1968. 610x762 mm; 24x30 inches. Signed in oil, lower right.

Provenance: the estate of the artist; private collection.

Illustrated: Thom Pegg, Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist, p. 85.

A Black Prince Dreams of Africa is a fascinating mid-career painting by artist, activist and art therapist Cliff Joseph. This evocative, dream-like painting evokes both Pan-African symbolism and Afro-Futurism. This image was created during the height of the Black Arts movement. In 1968, Joseph also co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) with Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent, Reggie Gammon, Mahler Ryder and Edward Taylor. Its founding was a direct response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind which did not include any works by Black painters or sculptors. The Coalition's goal was to increase the representation of Black artists in New York galleries and museums.