We Have Been Believers

1949
(American, 1918–1979)
(American, 1920–2003)
Sheet: 40.5 x 30.2 cm (15 15/16 x 11 7/8 in.)
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location: not on view

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

For over a decade beginning in 1965, Charles White taught at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he instructed the next generation of African American contemporary artists including Kerry James Marshall and David Hammons.

Description

This print's title is taken from a poem by Margaret Walker, published in an 1939 issue of Poetry, which described the struggles and strength of African Americans since the advent of slavery. Like Charles White, Walker worked in Chicago during the 1930s and '40s, a period that came to be known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. In this lithograph, published a decade after the poem, White interpreted Walker's words visually through the overlapping profiles of a couple who both look slightly upward with expressions that suggest both anxiety and resilience. In such images, White aimed to create a new art that was created both about and for Black Americans.
We Have Been Believers

We Have Been Believers

1949

Charles White, Robert Blackburn

(American, 1918–1979), (American, 1920–2003)
America, 20th century

Visually Similar Artworks

Contact us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.