"Full Moon, Haitian Rythym" 30 1/4x 24" oil on canvas
"Hiatian Fisherman at Dawn" 1931 13x 9" oil on wood
"Dr. Ulysses Grant Dailey" 1930 32x 20" oil canvasWilliam Edouard Scott was born in Indiapolis in 1884 where he lived til 1904. That year he decided move to Chicago to live and pursue higher education at the School of Art Institute of Chicago. Later he had the chance to study abroad at the Acade'mie Julian and Acade'mie Calorassi where he was mentored by fellow African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. In France he devolped his Impressionist sincibilties which he nurtured through out his career. After the accomulation years of schooling Scotts paintings were choosen in 1912-13 for the Paris Salon and at the Royal Academy of London.
In 1914 Scott returned home and began documenting the African American life in the south. In 1931 he later received a Rosenwald Foundation grant where he travel to Haiti to document people who kept strong ties too there african hertitage. By conscouisly depecting the Haitan life in uplifting way he pushed ahead for racial understanding through his work in his time. He humanized his subjects as strong independent people even though living in and under harsh conditions. He was extreme prolific during his time there producing over a hundred works in a little over a year there.
Scott was best known for his Haitian paintings, murals and portraits. He also by refusing to depict black life to elicit sympathy but to uphold them in high esteem was radical in his time. He passed in 1964 to diabetties in Chicago. He is now considered one of the important African American artist in his generation. His work now resides prestigous collections through out the world such as the Tate Gallery London, the Guggenheim New York and The National Gallery Washington DC.
