SCARCE GROUP OF IMPORTANT AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS BOOKS ONE SIGNED

1. Exhibition Catalogue. THE PROPHET AND OTHER PAINTINGS by Alvin Hollingsworth

ALVIN C. HOLLINGSWORTH attracted widespread critical acclaim with his groundbreaking exhibition THE PROPHET SERIES held at the Harbor Gallery in Long Island that travelled to the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1970. Harlem Renaissance Artist and Civil Rights Advocate Romare Bearden lauded the exhibition in the October 1970 issue of the New York Amsterdam News. And in a 1971 Ebony magazine interviewed Hollingsworth who provocatively stated, "I have always felt that Christ was a Black man . a symbol of any of the modern prophets who have been trying to show us the right way. To me, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are such prophets." Published by the Harbor Gallery, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 1970. First Edition. Softcover, dark yellow textured card covers with black printing and tipped on color plate, 9" x 6", side staple bound, 12 unnumbered pages including covers, illustrated with 7 b&w photographs of Hollingsworth's paintings and a b&w photographic portrait of the artist. NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scarce, only 11 copies in OCLC collections worldwide.

2. SIGNED Conference Program. THE SLAVERY DEBATE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? April 1975, Queens College, University of New York. John Henrik Clarke, Convener. Illustrated wraps 11" x 8.25", side staple bound, 8 un-numbered pages. SIGNED by HOLLINGSWORTH in blue pen on the front cover. Hollingsworth created the cover art for the program. NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean, unmarked and Hollingsworth's signature is bold and bright. Scarce.

3. Children's Book. I'D LIKE THE GOO-GEN HEIM. Written and Illustrated by A.C. Hollingsworth. Published by Reilly & Lee Books, a division of Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, IL, 1970. First edition. Hardcover in illustrated dustjacket, light yellow cloth covered boards with embossed metallic blue printing on the spine, 7" x 8", sky blue endpapers, 48 un-numbered pages, colorfully illustrated throughout, the inside rear panel of the dj has a b&w photograph of the artist Book and un-price clipped dustjacket are in NEAR FINE Condition: tight, bright, clean and unmarked. Scare first edition of Hollinworth's only children's book.

ALVIN C. HOLLINGSWORTH (1928-2000) Leading African American Artist, trail blazing Black comic artist, painter, illustrator, abstract expressionist, best known for his paintings relating to civil rights issues, the experience of Blacks within the urban landscape, Black women's rights, jazz, spirituality, and dance. Founding member with Romare Bearden of the Spiral Group of African American artists who linked their creative expression to social justice, other prominent members included Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Earl Miller, Norman Lewis, Hale Woodruff, Richard Mayhew, and Reginald Gammon. As early as 1945 he was illustrating comic books for various publishers including Cat Man Comics, which were issued under his name and pseudonyms, by the early 1950's he successfully created his own nationally syndicated comic.