Norman Lewis

Norman Wilfred Lewis was a pioneering African American painter whose work is associated with Abstract Expressionism and known for the social commentary it often embodied. Born in 1909 in Harlem, New York City, his artistic journey began in the vibrant cultural milieu of the Harlem Renaissance, which deeply influenced his artistic vision and commitment to social issues.

In his early career in the 1930s and early 1940s, Norman Lewis captured the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance through paintings grounded in social realism. In 1934 he became part of the 306 Group, a collective of African American artists and writers who gathered to discuss art’s role in society. The group counted members including Romare Bearden, Richard Wright, Charles Alston, and more. In 1935 Lewis co-founded the Harlem Artists Guild, with members including Bearden, Selma Burke and Beauford Delaney.

During that period, his art was informed by his personal observations of the lives of the ordinary people with whom he lived and interacted on a daily basis. A recurring theme of domestic settings in an African American home, bustling street scenes and subjects of urban life was common in his early paintings. Lewis created a unique visual language that is characteristic of his figurative style: a generous use of colour to create space, a sense of rhythm through the use of lines culminating into a blend of Surrealist, Cubist, colour field and geometry.

Although focused on a realistic depiction of his community, Lewis’s unique figurative Modernism can be seen to provide a philosophical and stylistic grounding for the Abstract Expressionist works of his later career.  Lewis’s engagement with the movement was partially due to his disillusionment with the United States after his wartime experiences in World War II. By 1945, Norman Lewis was considered as an Abstract Expressionist and was the only African American artist among the first generation of this movement. While continuing to focus on social inequalities, Lewis grown increasingly interested in personal expression over figural representation. His abstract art is noted for its lyrical quality, often evoking musical rhythms and spiritual themes.

In the final two decades of his career, Lewis created and developed his unique blend of abstraction and figuration. His rhythmic lines and abstracted shapes hinted at figures moving through his layers of colours.

Norman Lewis used art as commentary and self-expression against social inequalities. He also gave back to his community through education and the promotion of other artists’ works, establishing Cinque Gallery with Bearden and Ernest Crichlow. Between 1965 and 1971, Norman Lewis taught art for the Harlem Youth in Action programme. He also taught at the Art Students League of New York from 1971 until his death in 1979.