Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist

by Nancy Churnin, Felicia Marshall (Illustrator)

Growing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didn't see any artists who looked like her. She didn't see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. As a young woman studying art in Paris, she found inspiration in the works of Matisse and Gaugin to paint the people she knew best. Back in Philadelphia, the Harmon Foundation commissioned her to paint portraits of accomplished African-Americans. Her portraits still hang in Washington DC's National Portrait Gallery, where children of all races can admire the beautiful shades of brown she captured.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, History, Biography Memoir

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beautiful paintings as illustrations make this a pleasure to read. However, it is a bit more focused on the success of achievement rather than the struggle to get there. Telling kids more about the struggle will prepare them to fight through the tough times a little better.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

By reading this picture book we learned about Laura Wheeler Waring, artist and activist who pushed the needle forward for women artists, and African American artists. Color was discussed, brown specifically, and all the different colors and hues that must amend that lovely brown, to paint the beautiful people in our world, especially the ones in hers.

Her work is beautiful and I have to say how captivating her canvases are. . . I love the red she uses so generously, and the emotion and language she delivers straight from the eyes of many of her subjects. One can just about hear them, if not their words, the beat of their hearts and know without a doubt the depth and breadth of their feelings . . .beautiful work.

[Gary Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring, Nancy Churnin adds to her outstanding collection of picture-book biographies of historical figures marginalized because of race, gender, religion, or culture. Laura Wheeler Waring was an African-American painter born in the late 19th Century. The early pages of Beautiful Shades of Brown focus on Laura’s childhood fascination with painting, especially the complexity of the color brown, which Nancy Churnin deftly establishes as a metaphor for Laura’s race. Young Laura realizes that pictures of people like her do not appear in museums or art galleries. Nevertheless, Laura persists in her education as an artist until finally her nieces and nephews see her paintings of prominent Black Americans hanging in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.

Young artists will relate to Churnin’s evocation of a multi-dimensional sensory experience when Laura hears Marian Anderson sing Handel’s Messiah and tearfully realizes “it was as if she was hearing what she had been trying to paint for so long.” Children will also be interested in references to colors that rarely appear in their Crayon boxes: caramel, chestnut, russet, topaz, sorrel, burnt umber, cerulean blue, and gilt, for example.

Felicia Marshall’s exceptional illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Nancy Churnin’s narrative as she explores the brown palette in ways that will have readers searching for tones described in the text. I was also struck by how Marshall captures the feel of space in different kinds of rooms as the story moves around Laura’s childhood home, and then on to various museums, a theater, and a studio.

The impressively thorough back matter in Beautiful Shades of Brown includes a timeline, an author’s note with detailed context on Laura Wheeler Waring’s life and work, and renderings of several Laura Wheeler Waring paintings, including those mentioned in the text.

Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring is a worthwhile addition to library, classroom, and family bookshelves. Young readers will linger over the illustrations before turning each page, and the story’s nuances will emerge as returning readers develop in sophistication and maturity.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist is a children's picture book written by Nancy Churnin and illustrated by Felicia Marshall. It centers on the life of Laura Wheeler Waring, an artist that wanted to paint African Americans in their many shades.

Laura Wheeler Waring was an American artist and educator, best known for her paintings of prominent African Americans that she made during the Harlem Renaissance. She taught art for more than thirty years at Cheyney University in Pennsylvania.

Churnin's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Churnin ably conjures the painter's process and thrillingly describing Laura's painstaking combination of shades to create just the right browns for each subject. Backmatter includes an author's note, a timeline, and further readings. Marshall's illustrations are appropriately painterly, capturing the play of light on her characters' brown faces.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Growing up, Laura works for hours mixing and blending paints in order to replicate the shades she sees in her family members. Determined to pursue a career in art, she studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and then in Paris, honing her craft. Attending a concert given by a young Marian Anderson, Laura vows to paint the singer someday, and in 1944 commission for Portraits of Important African Americans, she does that along with other prominent African Americans like Alice Dunbar Nelson, James Weldon Johnson, W.E.B. Du Bois.

All in all, Beautiful Shades of Brown: Laura Wheeler Waring, Artist is an important biography of a now prominent artist of African American portraitist in Laura Wheeler Waring.

[Hannah]

I am actually gobsmacked that this is a new book, simply because the prose reads so much like the way we did picture book biographies 20 or 30 years ago. The art also has that quality--very painterly, which is nice and which my brain always associates with historical fiction or biographies of bygone figures. The problem with the text here is that the voice isn't consistent. Sometimes it's a little singsongy, sometimes it's straightforward, sometimes it's childish...it really jumps around and can't decide whether to be broad or to focus on specific incidents...so I dunno. Very interesting person and nice book overall, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving the trend of picture book biographies about lesser-known people. Each one is a reminder of everything I do not yet know. I am also reminded that the well-known people from history have been chosen, publicized, and popularized, but are not necessarily more worthy of reknown.

This portrayal of a young artist from Connecticut focuses mostly on Waring's artistic journey. From an artistic perspective, the lack of African-American portraits and painters played a big role in Waring's journey. Otherwise neither racism nor sexism play a big role in this story, except a casual mention of segregation.

Reproductions of some of Waring's work are included, as is a timeline of her life.

[Jillian Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading this book because of the great illustrations and details within them. I personally love art and this book allowed me to see a side of history within art that I was unaware of! Laura was so empowering and inclusive in her paintings, I would highly suggest this book!

[Bern · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kid didn't believe that brown was made with the colours from the rainbow. It was fun to do the colour blending and talk about the wonderful words we can use to describe the tones of our brown skin.

[Maggie Qudsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful Shades of Brown is a biography story that tells the story about Laura Wheeler, who was a artist. I choose this book because it shows kids the history and the art from back then. It is a perfect way to introduce kids about the black history.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the language, both playful and serious word choices. The inclusion of painting photographs in the back matter was also really special.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read a short bio about Marian Anderson every year. May attach this read with the other story!

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful biographical picture book of an artist who paved the way celebrating & honoring the beauty of Black skin that shines through the illustrations in this work.

[Jeanette Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marshall’s illustrations capture the look and feeling of paintings by early 20th century painter Laura Wheeler Waring. The text keeps this biography focused on Waring’s art, and her mixing colors to paint famous African-American subjects is related with joyful celebration of “luminous brown tones.” A perfect pairing of text & art, the biography ends with reproductions of several of Waring’s portraits that hang in the Smithsonian. A fantastic spotlight on art history, that places Waring in historical context while also delving into her artistic process & growth. (This review is based on an advance reader copy of the book)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning new things through picture books. In this case everything in the biography of the artist was new to me. I liked the time spent on describing the art of working with brown, how it's a rainbow in itself. This really resonated with me because I'm a terrible artist and when I mix paints they tend to be brown. I should start doing more portraits! Work with my strengths!

The book points out the discrimination against African Americans, and how that makes it even more amazing that Waring got into elite schools, got a scholarship to Paris, and learned names that I do recognize -- Money, Maney, Cezanne, Gaugin. The illustrations echo Waring's dedication to brown tones, with loving pictures of people, wood, walls, anything to showcase its many shades and textures. Few artists were painting brown people, and she intended to fix that. She got a big chance with the Harmen Foundation series of portraits of Black leaders, including the great Marian Anderson.

I like how the mutual respect between the singer and artist is shown.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography tells the life story of Laura Wheeler Waring, a relatively unknown artist. She grew up in the late 19th century, a black female artist in an era predominated by white males. She wanted museums to show people who looked like her, and she wanted to grow up to have her art on those museum walls too. Against all odds, she fulfilled her dream. Author Nancy Churnin always delivers a biography to introduce historical figures to children in an entertaining as well as educational manner. This book is illustrated by Felica Marshall’s paintings which are painted in the same “beautiful shades of brown” that Wheeler loved. All the earth tones show the warmth of Wheeler’s life. I recommend this book for readers of any age who are interested in art and artists. As a great biography of an empowered Black woman, it would be great for Black History Month, or multicultural representation in a classroom library.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a children's biography book. It has wonderful art to accompany the story of Wheeler Waring's life. It starts when she's a young girl who dreams of painting all different colors of Brown. She goes on to have her artwork hung in museums.

I had never heard of this artist before. I have seen her artwork before though, in the National Portrait Gallery. I admired it greatly in real life and reading the book has deepened my appreciation of it. I would recommend this for any kid that doesn't mind reading nonfiction. It's a great novel for kids who have to do a book report on a person of their choosing or assignment. I'd say the target age is around 8 and up. This could also be a great book for teachers/educators if they are planning a field trip where Wheeler Waring painting are displayed.

[Aolund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses primarily on Black artist Laura Wheeler Waring's childhood and the portraits of eminent individuals she painted as an adult. While making reference to the fact that Laura was one of few students in her art schools (first in the U.S. and then in Paris) who was not White, this book (written by a White author) chooses to keep a distinctly positive tone, and doesn't tell of any experiences of racism Laura might have experienced. While this results in a somewhat un-nuanced book, Beautiful Shades of Brown is still an inspiring story that could be used in concert with books presenting a more nuanced look at U.S. race and racism, as well as art and who has access to power in the art world.

Themes: Art, Brown, You Can Do It
Age range: Early elementary

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Laura Wheeler Waring but this picture book biography about a girl's aspirations to be a portrait artist and find the perfect shades of brown for her Black people is the absolutely epitome of a beautiful children's book. The illustrator, Felicia Marshall pulled out all of the stops on vividly showcasing Waring's rise from drawing portraits of her siblings (bribing them with peppermints to stay still) to when she was able to paint the strength of singer Marian Anderson.

The gallery scenes are my favorite. How inspiring. Getting herself into an arts academy in the United States and then getting a scholarship to Paris to learn from masters abroad, she had her sights trained on nothing but the very best and that's what she achieved.

[Sushie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay intro-biography for the Harlem Renaissance painter, and the only result on Goodread's catalog for Laura Wheeler Waring at all. It's nice there is a book about her, but the writing is dry, difficult to spot on the page, and doesn't seem to go along with the lovely illustrations much. Not one for my storytimes unfortunately.

Age: Upper elementary+
Plot: a light biography of Laura Wheeler Waring
Themes: brown skin is beautiful, art making, breaking boundaries
Length: Medium-long
Wordiness: High
Illustrations: gorgeous paintings done by Felicia Marshall in the style of Laura Wheeler Warring

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some other readers have noted this already, but my favorite quote from this book is, "Maybe you didn’t see brown in a rainbow. ...But brown WAS a rainbow, with orange and blue, red and green tucked inside, playing hide and seek."

This is such an important book about ground-breaking artist Laura Wheeler, who appreciated brown in all its beauty and valued the lives of brown people in America when others often didn't. BEAUTIFUL SHADES is a celebration of brown Americans, a perfect read for Black History month, a painting unit, or any time, really. Illustrator Felicia Marshall beautifully renders Laura, her family, and her subjects in all their shades and splendor.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle is "The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring", and true to this focus, the story concentrates on Laura Wheeler's desire to paint brown people for a living. It mentions that no one had done such a thing when she was growing up, and mentions that in art school and in Paris she was one of the few brown-skinned people around. But it really emphasized that she worked to find just the right shade of brown to paint each subject. The end matter includes reproductions of her art, a timeline, and an author's note about her siblings (she had no children of her own). The author is not a POC herself, but the illustrator is.

[Zachary Rhodanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is featured on the NCSS Notable Social Trade Books for Young People book list. Growing up in turn-of-the-20th-century Connecticut in a middle-class African American household, Laura works for hours, mixing and blending paints in order to replicate the shades she sees in her family members. Determined to pursue a career in art, she studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and then in Paris, honing her craft. The illustrations in this book include many different shades of brown, as Laura paints her family members. This is a great book for teaching students about the history of African Americans in the 20th century.

[Lizzy Hartwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some other readers have noted this already, but my favorite quote from this book is, "Maybe you didn’t see brown in a rainbow. ...But brown WAS a rainbow, with orange and blue, red and green tucked inside, playing hide and seek."

This is such an important book about ground-breaking artist Laura Wheeler, who appreciated brown in all its beauty and valued the lives of brown people in America when others often didn't. BEAUTIFUL SHADES is a celebration of brown Americans, a perfect read for Black History month, a painting unit, or any time, really. Illustrator Felicia Marshall beautifully renders Laura, her family, and her subjects in all their shades and splendor.

[Tina Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Churnin writes another beautiful picture book biography this time of Laura Wheeler Waring, who moved barriers to paint portraits of African Americans like her family. Her dream was to see African American paintings in museums so that African American children could see themselves on the walls. In beautiful language, Churnin describes Laura’s passion and determination to succeed. My favorite line: “Brown was a rainbow, with orange, and blue, red and green tucked inside, playing hide and seek.” Marshall’s paintings bring this story to life.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like a painting whose rich, bold, and lyrical text conveys the depth of feeling and care Laura put into each of her portraits. I love how Churnin conveyed the idea of a “rainbow of shades of brown” that Laura spent hours on, mixing blues, greens, reds, and yellows to get just the right and perfect shade. I love how Laura felt and heard the color whenever she began to paint. This is a stunning book that reminds us of the beautiful variety found in just one color, and how important it is for each of us to see ourselves reflected in the art we choose to celebrate.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I feel like this book took an odd direction, based on what I’ve been able to understand about Laura Wheeler Waring from some brief Internet exploration. It focused on her art and friendship with Marian Anderson whole glossing over any other important people or accomplishments in her life, including her marriage, her teaching work, an award for her art, and her activism - and instead focused on creating shades of brown to portray people in her portraits (she wasn’t only a portrait artist, either).

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an inspiring story of an artist who had a dream to showcase her paintings one day in a museum. She began painting family members as a young girl. This book details her career and rise to prominence as a portrait artist in the USA. There are beautiful illustrations throughout as well as a page featuring some of her most notable portraits, author's note with background information and a timeline. This book would be a great resource during Black History month to highlight an artist that deserves more attention and celebration. Highly recommended for Grades 3-5.

[Christine Mcdonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laura Wheeler, an African American artist, painted the portraits of African Americans showing the beauty of all the shades of brown skin. She discovered that brown holds many colors within it. Marian Anderson posed for her:
“Day after day, Marian posed. Laura mixed shades of brown. Burnt umber with yellow and dabs of white. No, that wasn’t it. How about a little green and violet? Closer. Laura wiped her paint-spattered forehead. Traces of red and cerulean blue?” The resulting portrait traveled around the country.

This celebration of color is captured in clear, elegant language. It is an inspiring story of a an African American girl determined to become an artist to show the world the beauty of brown. An important book!

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Churnin has a knack for finding and writing picture book biographies about the most interesting people who have lived inspirational lives, yet are little known.

Laura Wheeler grew up in the late 1800's, a talented African American woman painter who rose to some renown by painting well-known African Americans of the time.

Highly Recommended for grades 1-8.

[Amanda Walz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a bad introduction to Laura Wheeler Waring, but other than the fact that she is an artist, there's not much more to this book. The illustrations are beautiful and the author shares that Laura Wheeler Waring is an artist. She went to college, studied in Paris and was asked to contribute portraits for a museum. I found it very bare facts. I would love to learn more about this artist.