n nGrowing up in the late 19th century, Laura Wheeler Waring didnt see any artists who looked like her. She didnt see any paintings of people who looked like her, either. As a young woman studying art in Paris, she found inspiration in the works of Matisse and Gaugin to paint the people she knew best. Back in Philadelphia, the Harmon Foundation commissioned her to paint portraits of accomplished African-Americans. Her portraits still hang in Washington DCs National Portrait Gallery, where children of all races can admire the beautiful shades of brown she captured.n -- Journal