In 1942, artist John Graham organized an exhibition in New York that was in many ways the precursor to Picasso and American Art. Just as the Walker’s show pairs works by important American artists with the Picasso pieces that inspired them, Graham’s juxtaposed paintings by New York artists of the day with those by their Parisian contemporaries. A few works by Picasso were shipped across the…

Kara Walker’s purposefully provocative and seductively graphic work is difficult. It confounds, and sometimes offends. In addressing the concerns of some viewers, I’ve tried to convey that part of our mission as a cultural institution is to represent many different value systems, to give space, alongside more familiar or palatable expressions, to the unfamiliar, the invisible, the unspeakable, and the…