MoMA purchases Thelma Johnson Streat’s painting "Rabbit Man," the first work by a Black woman in its permanent collection.
In 1942, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York purchased "Rabbit Man", an oil painting by Thelma Johnson Streat, for its permanent collection, making it the first work by a Black woman accessioned into MoMA’s collection.[1][7][11] Although the exact calendar day remains undocumented, the year marks a watershed moment in both museum and African American art history.
Created in 1941, "Rabbit Man" reflects Streat’s modernist sensibility, combining stylized figuration with bold color to explore everyday subject matter while implicitly challenging the racial boundaries of the U.S. art world.[1][11] At the time, major museums rarely collected works by African American artists at all, and women of color faced compounded barriers of sexism and racism.[4][7][15]
MoMA’s acquisition signaled an institutional recognition of Streat’s talent at the highest level and placed an African American woman artist within a canon that was still overwhelmingly white and male.[1][4][7] This purchase occurred amid her broader involvement with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in California and growing national attention to her murals and politically engaged paintings such as "Death of a Negro Sailor," which brought her into direct conflict with the Ku Klux Klan.[4][5][15]
The 1942 accession of "Rabbit Man" has had lasting impact: it is repeatedly cited as a milestone for Black women in museum collections and has inspired renewed scholarly interest in Streat as a pioneering modernist who fused visual art, performance, and activism. The event demonstrates how her work carved out space for later generations of African American women artists to enter major institutions.[1][7][10][11]