Artist Brian Lanker’s Portrait Series Makes Its Way To The Smithsonian

A series of portraits by the late photographer Brian Lanker is now on display at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, according to The Washington Informer. The exhibit, titled “I Dream a World: Selections From Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women,” includes photographs depicting iconic African American women and their lifestyles. Lanker manages to portray some of the world’s most iconic Black women in all their vulnerability.

Lanker’s collection is an intimate portrayal of the timeless Black women we have come to adore. It includes the glamorous Lena Horne, who enraptured audiences from the 1930s through the 1980s. Lanker’s portrait of Horne has her seated and wearing a simple black ensemble. A 1988 portrait of beloved actress Cicely Tyson is also included, with the star adorned in a floral crown and looking wistfully into the distance. Other subjects include tennis player Althea Gibson, singer Odetta, and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Lanker, who passed in March 2011, first unveiled these photographs in his book I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer published the volume more than three decades ago, capturing Black women in their authenticity and illuminating their timelessness. His work depicted them without fear or inhibitions. In the book, Lanker wrote, “I felt the need to prevent these historical lives from being forgotten. Many of the women opened ‘the doors,’ and many advanced America through the modern civil rights and women’s movement.” 

The book consists of 75 portraits, a selection of which is on view at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery through Aug. 27, 2023. The black-and-white images are displayed on the second level of the Smithsonian. Additional photographs can be found near the “One Life: Frederick Douglass” exhibition, which highlights the abundant lives of Black individuals. 

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