Charles Henry Alston was an American painter, sculptor, illustrator, muralist and teacher who lived and worked in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Alston was influential during Harlem Renaissance.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Alston moved north and earned his degrees at Columbia University, receiving the Arthur Wesley Dow Fellowship in 1930. He is best known as an abstract painter and longtime instructor at the Art Students League of New York. However, like many artists establishing themselves in the era of the Harlem Renaissance, Alston produced figurative work and illustrations early in his career. He also produced murals and was the first African American WPA project supervisor, leading a staff of 35 artists and assistants to create the Harlem Hospital Center murals. Working as director of the boys’ program at Utopia Children’s House, he discovered a 10-year-old Jacob Lawrence in the after-school arts and crafts program. His work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Art, among many other institutions.
