Michael A. Cummings Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Michael A. Cummings Art Value Price Guide

Dec. 16, 2023
Michael A. Cummings, California, New York (b. 1945), King on a Barge, 1978, mixed media collage on metallic silver sheet laid on poster board, 9 1/2"H x 11 3/4"W
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Michael A. Cummings California, New York, (b. 1945) King on a Barge, 1978 mixed media collage on metallic silver sheet laid on poster board Signed, dated, and titled verso. Biography from the Archives of askART: Visual artist Michael A. Cummings was born on November 28, 1945 in Los Angeles, California to Arthur Cummings and Dorothy Dent. Cummings graduated from John C. Fremont Senior High School in Los Angeles in 1963. While Cummings attended Los Angeles City College for business administration from 1963 to 1966, and Woodbury College for design from 1968 to 1969, he earned his B.A. degree in art history from SUNY-Empire State College in 1979. Before graduating, Cummings enrolled in the New School for Social Research* in 1973, completing the Workshop in African Arts and Crafts program at The American Museum of Natural History in 1976. Cummings began his career in 1972 as a technical director for the New York Department of Cultural Affairs. In his spare time, he worked as a collage artist and painter. He discovered his passion for quilting after creating a cloth banner for an exhibition in 1973. He taught himself to quilt by studying the works of local quilters and how-to quilt books. In 1974, Cummings became the purchasing manager assistant for The American Museum of Natural History. He served as an arts administration assistant for The Children's Art Carnival in 1976; and that same year, held his first solo exhibition at the Studio Museum of Harlem. Cummings was the artist-in-residence for the New York Foundation for the Arts from 1977 to 1979, and joined the New York State Council on the Arts as an arts program analyst in 1980, working in contract administration. Cummings' solo exhibitions showed at the Francine Seders Gallery (1992), the Akron Art Museum (1993), Bates College (1998), Nobis Gallery (2007), the International Quilt Festival in Japan (2011), and the Artquilt Gallery (2014). Cummings quilt work, which adheres to the narrative, story-telling tradition, has been commissioned by the American Embassy Art program, the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Home Box Office (HBO), The White House, and the House of Seagram, among others. His work was also included in the public collections at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, the California African American Museum, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and in the private collections of stars like George C. Wolfe, Whoopi Goldberg, and Alonzo and Tracy Mourning. Cummings received the 2001 Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award*, the 2001 Excellence in Design Award from the City of New York City Art Commission, and the 2001 Children's Book of Distinction award from the Riverbank Review. He was interviewed for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in 2012, and by the ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY project at The Research Center for Arts and Culture, an affiliate of The Actor's Fund, in 2013. Source: Michael A. Cummings was interview by The HistoryMakers on November 9, 2016.
Ripley Auctions
Oct. 28, 2023
Michael A. Cummings, California, New York (b. 1945), King on a Barge, 1978, mixed media collage on poster board, 9 1/2"H x 11 3/4"W
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Michael A. Cummings California, New York, (b. 1945) King on a Barge, 1978 mixed media collage on poster board Signed, dated, and titled verso. Biography from the Archives of askART: Visual artist Michael A. Cummings was born on November 28, 1945 in Los Angeles, California to Arthur Cummings and Dorothy Dent. Cummings graduated from John C. Fremont Senior High School in Los Angeles in 1963. While Cummings attended Los Angeles City College for business administration from 1963 to 1966, and Woodbury College for design from 1968 to 1969, he earned his B.A. degree in art history from SUNY-Empire State College in 1979. Before graduating, Cummings enrolled in the New School for Social Research* in 1973, completing the Workshop in African Arts and Crafts program at The American Museum of Natural History in 1976. Cummings began his career in 1972 as a technical director for the New York Department of Cultural Affairs. In his spare time, he worked as a collage artist and painter. He discovered his passion for quilting after creating a cloth banner for an exhibition in 1973. He taught himself to quilt by studying the works of local quilters and how-to quilt books. In 1974, Cummings became the purchasing manager assistant for The American Museum of Natural History. He served as an arts administration assistant for The Children's Art Carnival in 1976; and that same year, held his first solo exhibition at the Studio Museum of Harlem. Cummings was the artist-in-residence for the New York Foundation for the Arts from 1977 to 1979, and joined the New York State Council on the Arts as an arts program analyst in 1980, working in contract administration. Cummings' solo exhibitions showed at the Francine Seders Gallery (1992), the Akron Art Museum (1993), Bates College (1998), Nobis Gallery (2007), the International Quilt Festival in Japan (2011), and the Artquilt Gallery (2014). Cummings quilt work, which adheres to the narrative, story-telling tradition, has been commissioned by the American Embassy Art program, the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Home Box Office (HBO), The White House, and the House of Seagram, among others. His work was also included in the public collections at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, the California African American Museum, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and in the private collections of stars like George C. Wolfe, Whoopi Goldberg, and Alonzo and Tracy Mourning. Cummings received the 2001 Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award*, the 2001 Excellence in Design Award from the City of New York City Art Commission, and the 2001 Children's Book of Distinction award from the Riverbank Review. He was interviewed for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in 2012, and by the ART CART: SAVING THE LEGACY project at The Research Center for Arts and Culture, an affiliate of The Actor's Fund, in 2013. Source: Michael A. Cummings was interview by The HistoryMakers on November 9, 2016.
Ripley Auctions
Oct. 19, 2023
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Watch and Pray.
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Watch and Pray. Collage of various paper and fabrics with mixed media on wove paper, 2000. 508x495 mm; 20x19 1/2 inches. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. From In the Hollow of Your Hand: Slave Lullabies Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, Connecticut. This collage was one of a series of a dozen original artworks created by Michael Cummings. They were commissioned as collage versions of his quilts to illustrate Alice McGill's book In the Hollow of Your Hand: Slave Lullabies. McGill collected and sung these lullabies since childhood; the book included a CD recording of each song, introduced and sung by McGill.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 06, 2023
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Born into a Lie.
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Born into a Lie. Oil on cotton canvas, 1970. 711x610 mm; 28x24 inches. Initialed and dated in oil, upper left. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. This early painting by Michael Cummings dates from the year when the artist moved from his native Los Angeles to New York.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 06, 2023
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Miriam Makeba.
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Miriam Makeba. Quilt with appliqué, including African printed fabrics, buttons and textile paint, 2019. 2286x1676 mm; 90x66 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower left recto. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "90x66" in ink on a fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Miriam Makeba depicts Zenzile Miriam Makeba (1932 – 2008), the famous South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. A proponent of Afropop, jazz, and world music, Makeba became a leading international figure in the fight against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa, beginning in the 1960s. With her friend and mentor Harry Belafonte, she received a Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording for her 1965 album An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba. She was later denied entry to the US after her 1968 marriage to the former Black Panther and political activist Kwayme Ture (born Stokley Carmichael). After living in exile in Guinea and Belgium, Makeba returned to her native South Africa in 1990 with the release of Nelson Mandela and lift of the ban on the ANC. Michael Cummings is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading African American quilters. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. He experimented with collage in various media, and by 1975, moved to strictly fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Quilts by Cummings are in many institutional collections including the American Craft Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California African American Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings's works were recently acquired by the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center and the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. He was commissioned by Hillary Clinton to create a quilt for the Year of the Women; the quilt Shirley Chisholm for President was recently exhibited in Womens' Voices, Women's Rights, Women's Votes at the Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, AR. Cummings also was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage fellowship in 2023.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 06, 2022
MICHAEL CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Freedom.
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
MICHAEL CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Freedom. Quilt with appliqué including machine sewn cotton fabrics, ceramic beads and textile markers, 2013. 1701x1397 mm; 67x55 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower right recto. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "67x55" in ink on a fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Freedom depicts a civil rights worker signing for freedom, surrounded by quotations and lyrics from Bob Dylan, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Mavis Staples. Along the quilt's edges, Michael Cummings has placed additional text related to events during the civil rights movement. Cummings is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading African American quilters. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. He experimented with collage in various media, and by 1975, moved to strictly fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Other quilts by Cummings are in the permanent collections of the American Craft Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California African American Museum, Atlanta Life Insurance, Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings was previously commissioned by the Art in Embassies, Absolut Vodka, the City of Knoxville, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Percent for Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and HBO.
Swann Auction Galleries
Mar. 31, 2022
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Martin Luther King Jr.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Martin Luther King Jr. Quilt with appliqué, including fabrics, plastic letters and a metal sign, 2013. 1854x1346 mm; 73x53 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower left recto. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "73x53" in ink on a fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. This narrative quilt from Michael Cummings highlights various quotes by Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. stitched on its surface. Stitched on the quilt are also the names of people that marched and died during the Civil Rights movement, including Medgar Evers, Denise McNair and Addie Mae Collins. The surface is embellished with text, a blazer, plastic letters, and a metal sign. Cummings is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading African American quilters. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. He experimented with collage in various media, and by 1975, moved strictly to fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Other quilts by Cummings are in the permanent collections of the American Craft Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California African American Museum, Atlanta Life Insurance, Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings was previously commissioned by the Art in Embassies, Absolut Vodka, the City of Knoxville, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the PerCent for Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and HBO.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 07, 2021
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Obama vs. Romney.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Obama vs. Romney. Quilt with appliqué, including African fabrics and buttons, 2013. 1600x1778 mm; 63x70 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower left recto. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "63x70" in ink on a fabric label, verso. From the artist's Obama series of quilts. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Obama vs. Romney is a striking work by quilt artist Michael Cummings from his Obama series of five quilts. His 2010 President Obama is in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum, and his 2009 Young Obama is in the collection of the International Quilt Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The artist made the following statement about Obama vs. Romney: " I was so captivated by his election and personal history that I created this series during his second year term. This related to his debate with Mitt Romney during 2012 presidential campaign on television. I added text to the surface with famous title of Langston Hughes poem titled "I too am America" since fake news kept saying Obama was not a citizen." Michael Cummings is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading African-American quilters. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. He experimented with collage in various media, and by 1975, had moved strictly to fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Other quilts by Michael Cummings are in the permanent collections of the American Craft Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California African-American Museum, Atlanta Life Insurance, Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings has also been commissioned by the Art in Embassies, Absolut Vodka, the City of Knoxville, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the PerCent for Art, NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs and HBO.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 07, 2021
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Naomi Sims, Unforgettable.
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Naomi Sims, Unforgettable. Color etching and aquatint on wove paper, 2011. 559x651 mm; 22 3/8x25 5/8 inches, full margins. Proof, aside from the edition of 40. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "state print" in pencil, lower margin. The series was commissioned by the Hatch/Billops collection in support of an endowment for Emory University. Naomi Ruth Sims (1948 - 2009) was an American model, businesswoman, and author, She was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal, in November of 1968, and is widely credited as being the first African American supermodel. Known as a consummate quilter since the 1970s, Michael Cummings began his artistic career as a painter. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 became a part of a New York circle of artists, which included Norman Lewis, Camille Billops, Romare Bearden, and his wife Nanette Rohan. The Hatch-Billops Collection is a group of books, publications, and other printed materials gathered by James V. Hatch and Camille Billops in response to the lack of scholarship and publication on African American art and culture. Over the span of forty years, they complied works, artist interviews and amassed a collection that was originally housed in their SoHo loft that also acted as a salon for artist and collectors. Their collection was donated and founded the Camille Billops and James V. Hatch archives at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Books Library at Emory University. Audiotaped interviews were alos gifted to create the Hatch-Billops Oral History at the City College of New York, CUNY.
Swann Auction Galleries
Aug. 19, 2021
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Other Countries.
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Other Countries. Oil on canvas, circa 1970s. 495x393 mm; 19 1/2x15 1/2 inches. Signed in oil, lower right recto. Signed in ink, lower-left corner verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Illustrated: Assotto Saint. Here to Dare 10 Gay Black Poets, (Galiens Press, 1992), cover image. Other Countries is a rare early painting by Michael Cummings that references Modernism and investigates African imagery from an African-American aesthetic. Known as a consummate quilter since the 1970s, Michael Cummings began his artistic career as a painter. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and joined a circle of leading Black artists, becoming friends with Norman Lewis, Camille Billops, Romare Bearden, and his wife Nanette Rohan. The lot is accompanied by a copy of the published book Here to Dare, 10 Gay Black Poets, edited by Assotto Saint. 8vo, wrappers. First Edition, First Issue. New York: Galiens Press, November 1992. A poetry anthology featuring this cover painting by Michael A. Cummings and designed by Pedro Perez. Authors include Djola Bernard Branner, Don Charles, David Warren Frechette, Cary Alan Johnson, Steve Langley, Craig A. Reynolds, Harold McNeil Robinson, Robert Westley, John D. Williams and Arthur T. Wilson. Here to Dare is a collection that reveals the acute and poignant double-consciousness of men born Black and gay, and their fierce determination to survive. For editor Assotto Saint being black and gay brought sexuality and power to the forefront of his work. He worked alongside other black gay poets to express their experiences and to bear witness to their struggles. Saint was unabashed in his nature and representation through his persona and writing. Assotto Saint was born Yves François Lubin in Haiti and moved to New York City as a young adult. Known as a poet, publisher and performance artist, he was a key figure in LGBT and African American literature of the 1980s and 90s. Before turning to literature, he was a dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1973 - 1980. After editing and penning poetry anthologies in the 1980s he won the 1992 Lambda Literary Award in Gay poetry as editor of The Road Before Us. He was also a nominee in the Gay Anthology category at the 5th Lambda Literary Awards for Here to Dare, and in the Gay Poetry category at the 7th Lambda Literary Awards for Wishing for Wings. In 1990 he was awarded a fellowship in poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts and received the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum's James Baldwin Award. After Saint and his life partner were diagnosed HIV-positive, he became a fervent AIDS activist. He was one of the first African American activists to publicly disclose his HIV status. Saint died on June 29, 1994 and was buried alongside his partner at the Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn, New York.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 10, 2020
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) James Baldwin Born into A Lie #3.
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) James Baldwin Born into A Lie #3. Quilt with appliqué, including African fabrics, buttons and textile paint, 2019. 1778x1372 mm; 70x54 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower left recto. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "70x54" in ink on a fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Statement from artist Michael A. Cummings: "To be born in a free society and not to be born free is to be born into a lie. To be told by co-citizens and co-Christians that you have no value, no history, have never done anything that is worthy of human respect destroys you because in the beginning you believe it." James A. Baldwin This art quilt #3 was created after reading James Baldwin's statement above. I was so moved by his observations that I decided to pay homage to this great American. Being African American myself, I felt his pain and disappointment. I embarked on a journey to translate his words into a quilt. I started with an idea to make one quilt, however, my imagination expanded, and I moved to additional quilts. There are four quilts in this series each with variations. Each quilt has symbols of icons that are prevalent in American society. I included the American flag, Confederate flag, and Christian cross. I used a red x on all four faces. X symbolizes rejection, exclusion, invisibility, not correct, wrong color and segregation from freedom to vote or live where you choose. I also placed the title of Langston Hughes poem in the Quilt "I, Too, Am America." This poem also brings into focus what Baldwin was referring to in his statement. Quilt #2 in this series was shown on a PBS program in December 2019 called Crafts in America. Quilt #1 in this series is now in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's Art Collection, New York."
Swann Auction Galleries
Jun. 04, 2020
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Escaping the Slave Ship Henrietta Marie.
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) Escaping the Slave Ship Henrietta Marie. Quilt with appliqué, including African fabrics, buttons and textile paint, 2006. 2286x1702 mm; 90x67 inches. Signed and dated in acrylic, lower left recto. Signed, titled and dated in ink on fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. The related quilt Slave Ship Henrietta Marie is in the collection of the International Quilt Museum, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE. The ship Henrietta Marie carried captive Africans to the Carribean, where they were eventually sold into slavery. On a return trip to England, the ship sank off the coast of Florida - captured Africans are not believed to have been on board at the time. The wreckage was found in 1972, with more than 1,000 objects recovered. The National Association of Black Scuba Divers later placed a memorial plaque on the site with the epitaph, "In memory and recognition of the courage, pain and suffering of enslaved African people. Speak her name and gently touch the souls of our ancestors." Escaping Henrietta Marie is only the second of Michael Cummings' celebrated art quilts to come to auction.Michael Cummings is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading African-American quilters. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. He experimented with collage in various media, and by 1975, had moved strictly to fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Other quilts by Michael Cummings are in the permanent collections of the American Craft Museum, New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California African-American Museum, Atlanta Life Insurance, Renwick Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings has also been commissioned by the Art in Embassies, Absolut Vodka, the City of Knoxville, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the PerCent for Art, NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs and HBO.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 06, 2011
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) African Jazz #3.
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
MICHAEL A. CUMMINGS (1945 - ) African Jazz #3. Quilt of various cloth fabrics, with button additions, 1990. 2642x1830 mm; 104x72 inches. Sewn signature and date, lower right recto. Signed, titled and dated in ink on fabric label, verso. Provenance: collection of the artist, New York. Exhibited: Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO; Hallmark Cards Gallery, Kansas City, MO; Saint Peter's Church, New York; Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; Reader's Digest headquarters, Chappaqua, NY; The Piano 300, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Pieced Together: Moscow Meets Harlem, Russian American Foundation, the National Arts Club, New York. From his 12 African Jazz Series, this is the first of Michael Cummings' celebrated art quilts to come to auction. Other quilts from this series are in the collections of Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. and City College of New York. Michael Cummings is regarded as the nation's leading African-American male quilter. A Los Angeles native, he moved to New York City in 1970 and became friends with Romare Bearden. In the early '70s, he experimented with collage in various mediums, and by 1975, had moved strictly to fabric. Today, he lives and works in Harlem. Other quilts by Michael Cummings are in the permanent collections of Arco Corporation, the American Craft Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, the California Afro-American Museum, Atlanta Life Insurance, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Cummings has also been commissioned to create an Absolut quilt for the House of Seagram, and quilts for the City of Knoxville, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the PerCent for Art, NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs, and HBO.
Swann Auction Galleries