Richard J. Powell

A specialist in American art, African American art, and theories of race and representation, Powell's scholarship has moved African Diaspora art to the center of art historical discourse. His books include Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture (2008); Black Art: A Cultural History (2002); Jacob Lawrence (1992); and Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson (1991). Powell has curated major exhibitions on black art in venues in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Durham, and London. He served as editor-in-chief of The Art Bulletin 2008-10, and was named the College Art Association's Distinguished Scholar in 2016.