Composition of three female track runners along with a cheetah.

Composition of a basketball player with a cheetah.

Credit: Emma Amos (b. Georgia, USA, 1936-2020). 1. Runners with Cheetah, 1983, acrylic and handwoven fabric on linen, 96ʺ×76ʺ. 2. 22 and #Cheetah, 1983, acrylic and handwoven fabric on linen, 84ʺ×62ʺ. ryanleegallery.com/artists/emma...
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Painted in 1966, this early self-portrait shows Emma Amos asserting herself within an art world that largely centered white male abstraction. By placing her own image at the heart of a modernist, geometric composition, she insists that Black women’s lives and pleasures belong inside the canon, not at its margins. Inside a wide circular frame that feels like both window and mirror, a young Black woman, Smos herself, with medium-brown skin sits in profile, her body turned while her head tilts toward us. She wears a vivid red dress with a blue collar, her straight black bob cut neatly framing her face. Her gaze meets ours, steady and thoughtful, even as she bends slightly over a small bouquet of green, yellow, and red flowers cradled in her hands. The circle is edged with warm browns, set against a flat field of saturated blue. Within the circle, the background is divided into soft off-white and pale yellow planes, with a sliver of magenta tabletop and stacked color blocks at the lower right. Broad, visible brushstrokes, simplified shapes, and bold contrasts flatten the space, turning this quiet act of smelling flowers into a striking, graphic image. The artist’s posture, rich color, and framing convey a sense of contemplation, sanctuary, and self-possession. The circular “portal” can be viewed as a mirror, a studio window, or even a halo-like emblem of self-regard, echoing Amos’s belief that, “For me, a Black woman artist, to walk into the studio is a political act.” The small bouquet suggests both everyday joy and self-care, as if she has gathered these flowers for herself in the midst of struggle. Decades later, she would insert this painting inside “Sandy and Her Husband,” literally weaving her younger self into a narrative of Black love and intimacy. Born in segregated Atlanta and later the only woman in the Spiral collective, Amos used color, pattern, and figuration to challenge racism and sexism in art history.

“Flower Sniffer” (Self-portrait) by Emma Amos (American) – Oil on canvas / 1966 – Brooklyn Museum (New York) #WomenInArt #EmmaAmos #BrooklynMuseum #artText #art #BlackWomenArtists #arte #AfricanAmericanArtist #BlueskyArt #selfportrait #BlackArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #ContemporaryArt

Flower Sniffer, 1966, by #EmmaAmos (American, 1937-2020), who was born #otd, Mar 16. Held by the Brooklyn Museum; source, www.flickr.com/photos/18378
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