Alston, Charles (1907 - 1977)

Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charles Alston was a long-time instructor at the Art Students League of New York and was known for his grasp of abstract design and his ability to express in his artwork the social forces that where shaping America at that time. His mediums were painting, sculpture, and murals, and his mural titled "Man on the Threshold of Space," is at the Harriet Tubman School and another, "Emerging Man," is at the Harlem Hospital, both in New York. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia, University, and in 1930, received the Arthur Wesley Dow Fellowship. From 1950, he began several decades of teaching at the Art Students League and was also a member of the National Society of Mural Painters. In 1958, he was a U.S. representative to the Brussels Worlds Fair and in 1967 was appointed to the Advisory Board of the National Council of the Arts. He exhibited at the John Heller Gallery in New York and in 1969 had a large retrospective exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in New York.