Edmund Archer’s portraits of Black men and women radiate his sitters’ dignity and starkly contrast to the caricatures and stereotypes of earlier Richmond artists and 20th-century popular culture. His honest portrayals tell the story of a progressive group of Richmond artists working at the end of the Jim Crow era.
This exhibit is made possible in part by the generous support of our sponsors:
Jim and Bobbie Ukrop ∙ Yvonne and Charles Gold ∙ Mrs. J. Stewart Bryan III
Lillian and Walter Dean ∙ Jean and David Holman ∙ Reilly and Julia Monroe
Edmund Minor Archer's Story
A Quick Look: For thirty-nine years, Edward V. Valentine created some of his most well-known sculptures in the carriage house turned studio at 809 East Leigh Street in Richmond.
A Quick Look: Edward Virginius Valentine was a sculptor and former president of the Valentine Museum. His art spread the Lost Cause myth created after the Civil War.
Essay: The Valentine Museum opened in Richmond on November 21, 1898. Fifty years earlier, museum founder Mann Satterwhite Valentine II (1824-1892) noted: “Today I thought of procuring relics of all places dear to my memory.”