In 1930, tired of hearing that "the American Negro has no pictorial or plastic art," James A. Porter began a journey of discovery that would culminate with Modern Negro Art, published in 1943. Porter was a painter and a student of art. He was also a thorough scholar, and Modern Negro Art is still considered an authoritative work on African-American art. Porter discovered a rich tradition of painting, sculpture, and folk art that could be traced back to West Africa, from where most of the slaves brought to America were taken. Although two previous volumes had appeared on the subject (both by Alain LeRoy Locke of Howard University, in 1936 and 1940), neither of them had approached the depth of Porter's research. Porter's book offered critical assessment and, more important, the self-affirmation of racial identity in the art of black America. Porter's book provided a tradition that...