Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr.
Smoking My Pipe by Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr., 1934
Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr. (1907 -1994) is thought to be the first African American artist hired for the Public Works of Art Project. He was born in North Carolina and his family later moved to Philadelphia, PA. He studied at the Pennsylvania Museum and the School of Industrial Art, and received a master of arts equivalent degree from the University of Pennsylvania.. Samuel J. Brown, Jr.'s watercolor painting of So Tired was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. in 1934. As a WPA artist, four of his watercolors were selected to be exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, though the museum was only to select one. In addition to his art, Samuel Joseph Brown, Jr. was a school teacher in the Philadelphia public school system for 30 years.
SOURCES:
Nicholson, J. (1994, October 26). Samuel J. Brown, Jr.; an artist and teacher. Philly.com. Retrieved from http://articles.philly.com/1994-10-26/news/25874928_1_wpa-watercolors-art-teacher
Richberg, B. (1994, October 27). Samuel Brown, 87, watercolorist whose work was widely acclaimed. Philly.com. Retrieved from http://articles.philly.com/1994-10-27/news/25871792_1_watercolor-harmon-foundation-fine-arts
Sims, L. S. (2003). Challenge of the modern: African-American artists 1925-1945, Volume 1. New York, NY: Studio Museum in Harlem.