“Sculpture is not a self-declaration but a voice of and for my people,” said Richard Hunt. “Over all a rich fabric; under all about the dynamism of the African American people.” Hunt was born in Chicago in 1935. He was a descendant of slaves who were brought from West Africa to the port of Savannah, Georgia. Hunt’s mother was a beautician and librarian, so as a child he was a reader. As a teenager he started to do carvings in his bedroom, and in the 1950s he was winning prizes at art school. In 1971, Hunt was given an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art; he would become known as the foremost African-American abstract sculptor of the 20th century. Hunt died in 2023, at 88. White Cube presents 25 important early works. —Elena Clavarino