Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art

Bringing focus to African-American art and its essential place in the history of American art.

  • Browse
    • Browse Artworks
    • Browse Artists
    • Collection Slideshows
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Artwork Copyright
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Loans and Exhibitions
    • Past Exhibitions
    • Complete List of Loans & Testimonials
  • Educational Resources
    • Publications
    • Videos
      • Shuga & Wata
  • News
    • Collection Updates
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Create an Exhibition
  • Log In

Adger Cowans

1936-present

Works in the Collection

Adger Cowans, Comb Piece #2, Acrylic on canvas, c. 1970
Comb Piece #2
1970

Add to Your List

View Your List

Adger Cowans, Three Shadows, Photograph, c. 1960.
Three Shadows
1960

Add to Your List

View Your List

Biography

Adger Cowans was born in 1936 in Columbus, Ohio. He adds to an illustrious family history that includes his great-great-grandfather, a Buffalo Soldier, and his cousin, Dr. Early Sherrard, a Tuskegee Airman. Cowans earned a BFA in photography from Ohio University and continued his education at the School of Motion Picture Arts and the School of Visual Arts. He served as a photographer in the Navy until 1960 before moving to New York to work as an assistant for Gordon Parks at Life magazine. Cowans was awarded a John Hay Whitney Fellowship in 1962. In 1963, he and a collective of fellow New York photographers including Louis Draper and Roy Decarava founded the Kamoinge Workshop.

Cowans work has been published in a number of magazines including Essence, Ebony, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Life, Time, and Modern Photography and has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, The Studio Museum of Harlem, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Harvard Fine Art Museum, among others. He has also taught photography at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, and the Cleveland Institute of Arts. Today, he continues his photography and painting from his studio in Connecticut.

© Copyright 2023 Petrucci Family Foundation | Artwork Copyright Information

Join The Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art


Login to The Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art


Lost Password?

Reset Password

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.



Loading...

Don't have an account? Sign Up Already have an account? Login