Margo Humphrey

Margo Humphrey (born June 25, 1942) is an American printmaker, illustrator and art teacher. As a printmaker, Humphrey is known for her "bold, expressive use of color and freedom of form", creating works that are "engaging, exuberant and alive". She attended the Oakland Public Schools and graduated in 1960 from Oakland High School as an art major. After earning her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the California College of Arts and Crafts, she attended Stanford University Graduate School earning a Masters of Fine Arts degree with Honors in Printmaking in 1974. Yaba Technological Institute of Fine Art, Ekoi Island, Nigeria; the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria;

Humphrey has worked with significant printmaking ateliers including the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, the Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop

Artistic style and themes Humphrey has worked in many different art mediums, she is particularly respected for her work in lithography. Her techniques for layering colors are uncommon in lithography. She is attracted to the fluidness of lithography.

Her work is expressionist in terms of the bright colors and symbols she uses to create autobiographical scenes from her life, combined with mystical imagery. Using everyday objects in her work as iconography, Humphrey's symbols allude to Black culture, Since then, Humphrey's works have been exhibited internationally, and are held in major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Hampton University Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,

Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper (2011), at the Hampton University Museum, is a 45-year retrospective of her work, curated by Robert E. Steele and Adrienne L. Childs.

Awards and honors Humphrey has received many awards and honors, including: The James D. Pheland Award from the World Print Council National Endowment of the Arts Fellowships, 1988 Ford Foundation Fellowship, 1981 Tiffany Fellowships, 1988 Teaching Fellowships from the United States Information Agency Arts America Program