Artis Lane is the preeminent Black portrait artist, who has captured the likeness and essence of icons like Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama. Her work lives in some of the most distinguished collections in the world. Her portrait of Rosa Parks lives in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and her bust of Sojourner Truth resides in the collection of Emancipation Hall.
Lane renders her portraits in a variety of mediums, from oil paintings to cast bronze statues. Her process is equal parts technical and spiritual, as she imbues her work with ethereal properties.
Artis Lane was born in North Buxton Ontario and studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto before moving to Detroit and studying at Cranbrook Art Academy. She currently lives in Los Angeles where she continues to work.
“Working with individuals such as Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Mary Baker Eddy — I see the reality of their being is determined by their deeper and higher qualities. This is why I choose Matisse over Picasso because Matisse portrayed human beings’ spiritual nature.”
20 BLAC • MARCH 2022 • BLACdetroit.com
“My work operates on three levels: individual portraits, social justice, and divine metaphysics,” Lane says.
