biography of Allan Rohan CRITE (1910-2007)

Birth place: Plainfield, NJ

Addresses: Boston, MA

Profession: Painter, illustrator, lecturer, writer, craftsperson

Studied: BMFA Sch; Mass Sch Art; Boston Univ, CBA; Harvard Univ, BA; Children's A Center, Boston, with Charles Woodbury and Eliz. W. Perkins

Exhibited: Boston S. Indp. A., 1929-41; New England Contemporary A., 1930, 1933-46; Harmon Fnd., 1930-32, 1935; BMFA Sch., 1935 (prize) and solo show; Grace Horne Gal., 1937-39, 1943,1944 (solo); S.Indp.A., 1937; WFNY, 1939; Corcoran Gal, 1939; Texas Centennial, 1936; Howard Univ., 1939; Dillard Univ., 1939-40; American Negro Expo., Chicago, 1940; AIC, 1942; CAM (solo); Univ. Nebr. (solo); Boston Inst. Mod. A., 1943-45; Atlanta Univ., 1942-44; Margaret Brown Gal.,1945; Boston Printmakers, 1948; Seabury Western Theol Sem, 1952 (prize); Fogg Mus Art, Harvard Univ. (solo); Farnsworth Mus Art; Religious Art Festival, Brandon, Vt, 1961; Franklin Mint Bicentennial Medal Design (fourth prize); Festival Arts, Ecumenical Youth Assembly N Am, Ann Arbor, Mich, 1961; St. John and James Church, Boston, 1968; James A. Porter Gallery, 1970; National Center of Afr0-American Artists, 1971; Newark Mus., 1971; Charles H. Woodbury and His Students," Ogunquit (Me.) Mus., 1998. "

Member: Boston Soc Ind A.; Boston Inst Mod Art; BMFA Sch (alumni bd); Children's Art Ctr, Boston (bd mem); Archaeol Inst Am.

Work: MOMA; AIC; BMFA; Fitchburg Art Mus., MA; National Mus. of Am. Art, Wash., DC; Spellman Col, Atlanta, Ga; Addison Gallery Am Art, Andover, Mass; Marine Hosp, Carville, La; Villanova Col, Pa; Smithsonian Inst.; Boston Atheneum. Commissions: Insignia, USS Wilson; mural, Grace Church, Martha's Vineyard, Mass; stations of the cross, Holy Cross Church, Morrisville, Vt, 1957.

Comments: Living in Boston, MA, most of his life, his main subject was everyday life in black neighborhoods of the city. He also executed prints and lithographs on religious themes. He resigned as a WPA artist, rather than applying for relief, and during WWII worked as a technical illustrator to support himself and his mother. Auth & illustrator: Cultural Heritage of the United States, 1968; Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, McGrath, 1969; also many religious books & articles. His early drawings appear in C.H. Woodbury"s The Art of Seeing. Teaching: Lectr Christian art, Oberlin Col, 1958; past lectr, Regis Col.

Sources: WW73; WW47; Charles Woodbury and His Students; Cederholm, Afro-American Artists.