Sketchbook

The earliest works in this sketchbook date from White’s days at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he enrolled in 1937. It features approximately 50 drawings in watercolor, pen and ink, graphite, various charcoals, combinations of prepared grounds with colored dry media, and pen and ink or dry brush over ink or watercolor wash. He frequently added historical notes, technical descriptions, and generic titles (e.g., “sketch for block print,” “study for composition”) to his sketchbook drawings, giving insight into his interests and processes. Several pages feature studies of African sculptures, with notations on their cultural origins. White also made a quick, penetrating pencil portrait of poet Langston Hughes, recorded during a lecture on April 1, 1938, at the Chicago Public Library.