Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring

by Nancy Churnin, Felicia Marshall (Illustrator)

Overview

Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. As a young woman studying art in Paris, she found inspiration in the works of Matisse and Gaugin to paint the people she knew best. Back in Philadelphia, the Harmon Foundation commissioned her to paint portraits of accomplished African-Americans. Her portraits still hang in Washington DC's National Portrait Gallery, where children of all skin tones can admire the beautiful shades of brown she captured.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939547651
Publisher:	Creston Books
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	467,697
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	AD940L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Nancy Churnin is the author of many children's books, including Martin & Anne, Sydney Taylor Notable Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing, and the Sydney Taylor Honor Book Dear Mr. Dickens. She is a full-time writer living in Texas.

Felicia Marshall draws on her childhood experiences in rural Texas for her illustrations. Her most recent book, Beautiful Shades of Brown, was an NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book, a Eureka Honor Book, and won the Northern Lights Book Award.

Editorial Reviews

"A meticulously crafted account of a trailblazing artist. Recommended for general purchase, particularly for libraries looking to include more biographies of black women artists."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2020

Gr 1–4—Laura Wheeler Waring (1887–1948) combined colors to create the exact shades of brown that depicted the skin tones of the loved ones she painted. Artistic representation during the time period Waring came of age was far from inclusive. Portraits of African Americans and artwork created by black artists were not welcomed into museums. Waring pursued her passion and was eventually commissioned to paint important African American people for a traveling exhibit that displayed her art in the Smithsonian and other museums. This biography succeeds by keeping its focus on Waring's artistic journey. When discussing her portrait of singer Marian Anderson, Churnin forms an emotional link between these two women and spotlights the potential for their work to break barriers. The straightforward narrative allows young readers to connect with Waring as a person, recognize her dedication to her craft, and appreciate her accomplishments. The recurring theme of brown as a complex and beautiful color is an effective metaphor for the celebration of African American people and culture central to Waring's work. Marshall's painted illustrations are an artistic tribute rendered in the style of Waring's paintings. VERDICT A meticulously crafted account of a trailblazing artist. Recommended for general purchase, particularly for libraries looking to include more biographies of black women artists.—Elizabeth Lovsin, Deerfield Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

2019-11-10
Laura Wheeler Waring saw "brown [as] a rainbow" and painted it that way.

Growing up in turn-of-the-20th-century Connecticut in a middle-class African American household, Laura works for "hours mixing and blending" paints in order to replicate the shades she sees in her family members. Determined to pursue a career in art, she studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and then in Paris, honing her craft. Attending a concert given by a young Marian Anderson, Laura vows to paint the singer someday. A 1944 commission for "portraits of important African Americans" finds her painting the likenesses of Alice Dunbar Nelson, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Du Bois—and Marian Anderson. Churnin ably conjures the painter's process, thrillingly describing Laura's painstaking combination of shades to create just the right browns for each subject. She is less adept at helping readers understand the barriers Laura must have faced, saying only that "there weren't portraits of African Americans in museums" during Laura's childhood and that her art education was undertaken among mostly white peers; one sentence in her author's note acknowledges the limited opportunities available to African Americans of Laura's time. While the evocation of Laura's joy in her art is admirable, skimming over the everyday injustices she must have faced paints only half her picture. Marshall's illustrations are appropriately painterly, capturing the play of light on her characters' brown faces.

An important story only partially realized. (timeline, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews