Suzanne Preston Blier
· Allen Whitehill Clowes Chair of Fine Arts and of African and African American StudiesHarvard University · History of Writing
Active 1974–2023
About
Suzanne Preston Blier is the Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She is an historian specializing in African art and architecture, with academic appointments in both the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the African and African American Studies Departments. Blier is also a member of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science and a Faculty Associate at the Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative. Her work has earned her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recognition from the Yoruba community in Nigeria, where she was bestowed a chieftaincy title for her contributions to the understanding of Ife art and history. Her scholarly contributions include numerous publications on African art, architecture, and history, with her recent books covering topics such as medieval African influence on the modern world, African artistic expressions, and the origins of modern art masterpieces. Blier's research is distinguished by her focus on the ontology, power, and identity expressed through African art and architecture, and she has been recognized with awards such as the Prose Prize in Art History and Criticism for her publications. She has also held prominent roles in professional organizations, including serving as President of the College Art Association from 2016 to 2018, and has received fellowships from prestigious institutions such as the National Gallery of Art, Guggenheim Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Art
- Computer Science
- Sociology
- Law
- Physics
- Psychology
- Visual arts
- Optics
- Social psychology
- Aesthetics
Selected publications
Routledge eBooks · 2023
Senior authorCorresponding- Computer Science
- Computer Science
Archaeologists have undertaken studies that accord a certain average reign length period that has worked for kingdoms in this area. This allows one to take the name (and objects) of a given known king and get some broad estimate of his likely reign period. In other words, African art can and should be a “lab” where the validity of a given theory can have play. Individual initiative seems to be more important than anything else. Rosalyn Walker’s work is very important, as well as the work of others who have done groundbreaking work on the individual African artist. Some Western countries are beginning to invest in African art and directing foreign aid in the arena promoting collaborations. Most now realize the imperative of communication and broad engagement and frankly. United States was the first place pretty much that African art became an acceptable (and indeed prized) subject in the art history discipline.
Performing Justice for Everyday People
Routledge eBooks · 2023
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Psychology
In general, theater is narrative and happens with an audience in a particular kind of way. It’s also repeatable in ways that performance art is not. Performance art can happen anywhere—in public or in private, with or without an audience. The body is the main material or tool. And oftentimes what happens in performance art happens only once.
Curating Contemporary African Art
Routledge eBooks · 2023
Senior authorCorresponding- Art
- Visual arts
Nigerian art students face a dire situation on one hand, but with the few teachers that are trying to do things differently there is a glimmer of hope. While those in the Diaspora have more opportunities, many African artists are in need of visibility. Young doctoral candidates are now specializing in contemporary African art. Some artists are pandering to tastes and forces that they believe will get them ahead. But others are responding to their realities. Sartorial Moment is a very special exhibition as it was the first attempt to show a wider selection of work that exists in the incredible archive of Pa Ojeikere.
Routledge eBooks · 2023 · 1 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Optics
- Physics
Over the past thirty years especially, Nigerian artists have been producing quite impressively in the realm of contemporary practice. Caribbean contemporary art is being taken very seriously around the world. A few years ago, Jamaican curator Kristina Newman-Scott opened a great show of Caribbean art at Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut, and it was a blast. The role of a professor of West African art is the same as that of any other professor, which is to enlighten. African literature still has to be produced by Africans, of whatever race or color. Artists who work with fabric must locate it within mainstream practice. Artists who work with fabric must locate it within mainstream practice.
2020-09-15
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding2019-01-01
book1st authorCorrespondingPicasso's Demoiselles: The Untold Origins of a Modern Masterpiece
2019-12-13 · 20 citations
book1st authorCorrespondingIn 'Picasso's Demoiselles', eminent art historian Suzanne Preston Blier uncovers the previously unknown history of Pablo Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon', one of the twentieth century's most important, celebrated, and studied paintings. Drawing on her expertise in African art and newly discovered sources, Blier reads the painting not as a simple bordello scene but as Picasso's interpretation of the diversity of representations of women from around the world that he encountered in photographs and sculptures. These representations are central to understanding the painting's creation and help identify the demoiselles as global figures, mothers, grandmothers, lovers, and sisters, as well as part of the colonial world Picasso inhabited. Simply put, Blier fundamentally transforms what we know about this revolutionary and iconic work
2019-12-13 · 6 citations
book1st authorCorrespondingForging Memory in Iron Asen Arts of Dahomey - Exhibition Overview
2018-01-01
article1st authorCorresponding10. The Image of the Black in Japanese Art: Nineteenth Century to the Present Day
Harvard University Press eBooks · 2017-01-01
book-chapterSenior author10. The Image of the Black in Japanese Art: Nineteenth Century to the Present DayAlicia VolkThe Image of the Black in African and Asian ArtThe imagery of blacks that has accrued in Japan from the nineteenth century to the present is rooted, as we might expect, in the vicissitudes of the modern nation's geopolitical...AuthorAlicia VolkPublisherHarvard University PressCopyright© 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeRelated print edition pages: pp.341-374 https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00136.016 Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-17842Copy Chapter subject tags:Blacks in artOther (Philosophy) in artArt, Japanese--20th centuryImperialismRace relations
Frequent coauthors
- 17 shared
Henry Louis Gates
- 13 shared
David Bindman
- 7 shared
Olu Oguibe
- 7 shared
Moyo Okediji
- 4 shared
Olabisi Silva
- 4 shared
Wura-Natasha Ogunji
- 3 shared
Kwame Anthony Appiah
New York University
- 2 shared
Thomas Habinek
Education
- 1982
Ph.D., Art History
Harvard University
- 1978
M.A., Art History
Harvard University
- 1975
B.A., Art History
Harvard University
Awards & honors
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Suzanne Preston Blier
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup