There he won several awards and medals for his efforts in a poster competition and for his charcoal work. In 1915, he became the first African-American student at the prestigious National Academy of Design. Smith began his formal training in art in 1913, when he became the first African-American to earn a scholarship to attend the High School for Ethical Culture, where he studied drawing, watercolor painting, poster design, sculpture and basket making. Eventually he became a proficient banjo-player and guitarist, which he would later put to use as a jazz musician and singer while a member of various bands and orchestras in Europe. His works are significant for their social commentary on racism, their themes of global racial uplift, and their exploration of human types and stereotypes.įrom an early age, his parents encouraged his artistic talents, paying for music lessons. He is further distinguished as the only African-American artist who was a printmaker during this time and the only one who made his living as a musician.
He was the most prolific of all the African-American artists who expatriated to France between the two World Wars of the 20th Century, producing at least 220 prints, drawings, and paintings. The picture above is attributed to Albert Alexander Smith, who was born in New York City on Septemby parents who immigrated from Bermuda.
