In Whom I Am Well Pleased

Lithograph on wove paper, 1940.

Reference: Rose &Quiroz 58. Edition of 35.

Prentiss Taylor was an active member of the multidisciplinary art movement designated as the Harlem Renaissance, which took place in New York City in the 1920s and 30s. He was a close friend of Langston Hues and even illustrated poems for the famous author. In a number of his lithographs Taylor depicted African American religious culture and dignity, at a time when the country was still overwhelmingly segregated. As a gay man, he understood the reality of being “other” and also in a number of his compositions depicted the suffering of Black Americans. In this lithograph a Southern Baptism of and African American congregation is depicted. Taylor very likely experienced this rite while he lived in Charleston for a few months both in 1933 and 1934.

Signed, dated, titled, and annotated ‘35 prints’ in pencil.