The United Colors of Robert Earl Paige

Robert Earl Paige is one of the most iconic artists and designers from Chicago’s South Side. A multidisciplinary artist and arts educator, he works across textile design, painting, collage, and sculpture. During the 1970s, he brought West African–inspired patterns to U.S. shoppers through the Dakkabar fabrics collection available at Sears, Roebuck, leading to the inclusion of Black culture in home design. In addition to exploring Paige’s personal and artistic practice, through essays by Dr. Romi Crawford and Dr. Gervais Marsh, The United Colors of Robert Earl Paige contextualizes his work in relation to social and artistic movements, from the minimalism and abstraction of the 1960s and 1970s to AfriCOBRA and the Black Arts Movement in Chicago and across the United States. Curator Allison Peters Quinn collaborates with Paige to offer inspiration and tools for younger artists to develop lifelong creative practices. An interview between Paige and fiber artist Anne Wilson traces his career path, starting as a young designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; his travel to West Africa, South Africa, and Milan; his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago; and features insights into Paige’s influences; his friendships with important cultural figures such as James Baldwin; his interest in blurring boundaries between design, art, and craft; and his teaching philosophies. Published in conjunction with Paige’s exhibition at Hyde Park Art Center in 2024, this fully illustrated book includes reproductions of the artist’s handpainted scarves, collages, and rugs made during the past sixty years, along with new ceramic tiles, collages, and textiles.