Bruce Nugent - July 2, 1906 – May 27, 1987
Bruce Nugent (also known as Richard Bruce) was a writer and painter and major part of the Harlem Renaissance. Of the many black gay artists of the time, he was one of the few that was out publicly. Nugent had a long and productive career bringing to light the creative process of gay and black culture. During his career in Harlem, Nugent lived with writer Wallace Thurman from 1926 - 1928 which led to the publishing of his story “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade” in Thurman's literary magazine: Fire!! The short story, written in a modernist stream-of-consciousness style, dealt with bisexuality and more specifically interracial male desire. Some of Nugent’s artwork appeared in publications such as Fire!!! and four of his paintings were included in the Harmon Foundation's exhibition of Negro artists—one of the few venues available for black artists in 1931. His only stand-alone publication, Beyond Where the Stars Stood Still, was issued in a limited edition by Warren Marr II in 1945. He later married Marr's sister, Grace on December 5, 1952. Nugent’s marriage to Grace Marr lasted from 1952 until her suicide in 1969. Nugent's intentions with the marriage were unclear as they were not romantic as he only felt sexual attraction to men. Thomas Wirth, contemporary and personal friend of Richard Nugent claimed that Grace loved Richard and was determined to change his sexual orientation in Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent, 2002. Nugent's honest approach to homoerotic and interracial desire did not please his more discrete homosexual contemporaries. Alain Locke chastised Fire!! for its radicalism in general and specifically Nugent's “Smoke Lilies, and Jade” for promoting the effeminacy and decadence associated with homosexual writers. Nugent bridged the gap between the Harlem Renaissance and the black gay movement of the 1980s and was a great inspiration to many of his contemporaries and future generations.
Bruce Nugent (also known as Richard Bruce) was a writer and painter and major part of the Harlem Renaissance. Of the many black gay artists of the time, he was one of the few that was out publicly. Nugent had a long and productive career bringing to light the creative process of gay and black culture. During his career in Harlem, Nugent lived with writer Wallace Thurman from 1926 - 1928 which led to the publishing of his story “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade” in Thurman's literary magazine: Fire!! The short story, written in a modernist stream-of-consciousness style, dealt with bisexuality and more specifically interracial male desire. Some of Nugent’s artwork appeared in publications such as Fire!!! and four of his paintings were included in the Harmon Foundation's exhibition of Negro artists—one of the few venues available for black artists in 1931. His only stand-alone publication, Beyond Where the Stars Stood Still, was issued in a limited edition by Warren Marr II in 1945. He later married Marr's sister, Grace on December 5, 1952. Nugent’s marriage to Grace Marr lasted from 1952 until her suicide in 1969. Nugent's intentions with the marriage were unclear as they were not romantic as he only felt sexual attraction to men. Thomas Wirth, contemporary and personal friend of Richard Nugent claimed that Grace loved Richard and was determined to change his sexual orientation in Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent, 2002. Nugent's honest approach to homoerotic and interracial desire did not please his more discrete homosexual contemporaries. Alain Locke chastised Fire!! for its radicalism in general and specifically Nugent's “Smoke Lilies, and Jade” for promoting the effeminacy and decadence associated with homosexual writers. Nugent bridged the gap between the Harlem Renaissance and the black gay movement of the 1980s and was a great inspiration to many of his contemporaries and future generations.
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