NEW YORK, NY.- Babcock Galleries presents “African Americans: Seeing and Seen, 1766 – 1916,” an incisive overview of refined and controversial fine art and popular culture images of African Americans as artists and subjects. Bitter brutality and cruel caricature alternate with respectful revelations and positive portrayals of the status of African Americans. It may be said that all portrayals become betrayals in revealing the motivations and prejudices of their creator, and the images in this exhibition offer telling insights into the prevailing notions of the period. Each work is not only a signpost of the complex nature of our cultural forbearers, but also a harbinger of the ongoing struggle for equal rights in the United States. Tess Sol Schwab, Assistant Director at Babcock Galleries and curator of this exhibition, points out that African American history “can be catalogued by the racist and derogatory